E4RINQ  fcilLKWORHS 


KR4, 


LIBRARY 

OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


S-9  8 


COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION 

IN 

REARING    SILKWORMS 

ALSO 

HOW  TO  BUILD  AND  FURNISH  COCOONERIES 

HOW  TO  PLANT,  PRUNE,  AND  CARE 
FOR   MULBERRY  TREES 

TOGETHER   WITH 

MUCH  VALUABLE  INFORMATION  AS  TO  THE  SILK 
INDUSTRY  IN   GENERAL 

BY 

MRS.   CARRIE   WILLIAMS 


SAN    FRANCISCO 
THE  WHITAKER  AND  RAY  COMPANY 

(INCORPORATED) 
1902 


GENERAL 

COPYRIGHT,  1902 
BY  MRS.  CARRIE  WILLIAMS 


DEDICATION 

TO  THE  SILK-PRODUCERS   OF  THE 
UNITED    STATES 

THIS    LITTLE   VOLUME   IS   RESPECTFULLY 


BY 

THE   AUTHOR 


118746 


PREFACE. 

IN  sending  out  this  little  volume  to  the  Ameri- 
can public,  I  do  so  with  the  earnest  hope  of  call- 
ing attention  to  this  very  important  branch  of 
industry. 

Close  study  and  observation  on  practical  lines 
for  more  than  ten  years  gives  me  confidence  to 
assert  that  no  one  factor  in  the  industrial  inter- 
ests of  our  nation  is  of  greater  importance  than 
is  the  production  of  silk,  and  yet  there  is  none 
so  little  understood,  and  hence  so  lightly  valued. 

The  wealth  of  every  nation  lies  in  its  developed 
resources.  We  might  build  castles  of  stone  upon 
mountains  of  gold,  but  the  gold,  though  of 
greater  intrinsic  value,  would  be  no  better  than 
(if  as  good)  the  stone  employed  in  the  super- 
structure of  the  building. 

Wealth,  in  order  to  be  helpful,  either  to  the 
individual  or  the  nation,  must  be  developed; 
otherwise  it  will  forever  remain  like  the  talent 
folded  away  in  the  napkin. 

Knowing  that  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the  silk 
business  has  caused  so  many  failures  with  those 
who,  from  time  to  time,  have  attempted  silk- 
culture  in  this  country,  I  send  out  this  book  with 
5 


6  PREFACE. 

full  instructions,  which  I  know,  if  strictly  fol- 
lowed, will  insure  success. 

By  contrasting  our  advantages,  as  set  forth  in 
these  pages,  with  other  countries,  it  will  readily 
be  seen  that  everything  is  in  our  favor,  save  only 
education,  —  experience,  which  might  very  soon 
be  acquired,  and  that,  too,  on  a  much  higher 
plane  than  that  on  which  nine  tenths  of  the  silk 
of  the  world  is  produced. 

We  need  not  content  ourselves  with  doing  as 
well  as  others  have  done.  We  can  do  better. 

In  the  manufacture  of  silk  we  captured  the 
highest  premiums  from  the  whole  world  at  the 
Paris  Exposition  in  A.  D.  1900.  Yet  there  are  no 
special  advantages  here  for  the  manufacture  of 
silk,  more  than  in  any  country  from  which  we 
import  reeled  silk  and  also  manufactured  goods. 
But  we  have  here  very  many  special  advantages 
for  the  production  of  silk;  and  with  the  hope,  in 
some  measure,  of  waking  up  the  people  at  large 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  great  advantages  we 
enjoy,  and  the  grand  possibilities  to  which  we 
might  attain,  I  now  send  forth  this  little  book 
upon  the  sea  of  ever-expanding  literature  of  the 
twentieth  century. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

PREFACE 5 

SILKWORMS.     ILLUSTRATED.^ 9 

FEEDING  SILKWORMS  .  .  U 21 

ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  SPINNING   ." 29 

COCOONS  —  How  TO  CARE  FOR  THEM 36 

MILLERS — How  TO  CARE  FOR  THEM.    ILLUSTRATED.  .     41 

COCOONERY 47 

FURNITURE  OF  COCOONERY 51 

How  TO  PRESERVE  SILKWORMS  55 

How  TO  MOUNT  MILLERS 60 

MULBERRY  TREES 63 

LEAVES —  How  TO  KEEP  THEM 71 

MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES  ON  SILK 74 

DISEASES  OF  SILKWORMS  84 

SILK  IN  CHINA 88 

SILK  IN  JAPAN 94 

SILK  IN  HUNGARY 96 

SILK  IN  FRANCE  97 

SELK  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN    99 

SILK  IN*  ITALY 103 

SILK  IN  AUSTRALIA Ill 

SILK  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  116 

A  SILK  STATION 137 

ILLUSTRATION   141 

7 


COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION 

IN 

REARING    SILKW 


fi    ur    /i  -'SjTY 
SILKWORMS.V 

^^44^£g^^3' 

SILKWORMS  come  from  the  eggs  of  the  silk-moth 
(Bombyx  mori).  The  eggs  are  about  the  size  of 
mustard  seed.  When  first  laid,  they  are  yellow, 
afterward  they  change  to  a  dark  slate-color.  As 
worms,  they  have  five  ages, -4- one  as  the  chrysalis, 
and  one  as  the  miller;  so  that  we  may  say  truly, 
the  silkworm  has  seven  agesA 

When  the  worms  are  first  hatched  from  the 
eggs,  they  are  about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  long, 
all  covered  with  black  hairs,  that  fall  off  in  a  few 
days.  The  head  is  black  and  shiny. 

When  the  worms  are  nearly  ready  to  come  out 
of  the  shell,  by  the  use  of  a  magnifier  the  worm 
may  be  very  plainly  seen  coiled  round  the  outer 
edge  of  the  shell.  One  black  spot  shows  very 
conspicuously.  That  is  the  head  of  the  insect. 
The  eggs  are  slightly  depressed  in  the  center  after 
the  vitalized  particles  concentrate  round  the 
outer  edge  of  the  eggs  to  form  the  bodies  of  the 
worms.  When  the  moment  of  perfect  maturity 
9 


10  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION   IN 

arrives,  the  worms  burst  a  little  hole  in  each 
shell,  and  crawl  out  head  first.  They  immedi- 
ately seek  for  food.  The  great  cycle  of  silkworm 
life  (i.e.,  from  the  egg  to  the  egg  again)  is  from 
thirty-six  to  forty-six  days.  When  about  four 
days  old,  they  pass  into  a  kind  of  sleep,  called 


Beginning  of  Second  Age.  ,         End  of  Second  Age. 

molt,  in  which  condition  they  remain  twenty- 
four  hours,  when  they  are  said  to  molt,  —  that 
means,  throwing  off  the  entire  old  skin.  They 
first  throw  off  the  head-covering,  and  then  crawl 
out  of  the  body  skin,  which  remains  attached  to 
the  leaves  or  tray  where  they  were  when  resting 
during  the  molt,  or  slumber.  While  in  the  first 
molt,  worms  look  like  little  bits  of  rusty  wire. 

As  they  come  out  of  the  comatose  state,  the 
body  is  a    silvery  gray,  and   the   head    a    light 


Beginning  of  Third  Age.  End  of  Third  Age. 

brown.  This  is  the  second  age.  Very  soon  after 
molting  they  require  food.  They  continue  to 
grow  rapidly  for  five  days  more,  and  then  again 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  11 

relapse  into  a  comatose  state  and  wake  to  the 
third  age. 

In  about  the  same  time  the  silkworm  sleeps  its 
third  sleep,  and  awakes  to  the  fourth  age  of  its 
brief  life,  to  eat  more  and  grow  faster.  In  this 
age  tha-^e«^arWt5frrtation  of  the  worm  is  more 
easily  studied.  They  require  much  more  room, 
as  well  as  food. 

The  next  molt  is  the  most  critical  period  in 
silkworm  life,  and  in  countries  where  diseases 
rage,  the  silk-raisers  are  most  anxious,  as  at  this 
time  they  are  sometimes  liable  to  lose  almost 
their  entire  crop  through  disease;  for  then,  if  any 
latent  infectious  disease  has  been  lurking  in  them, 
it  is  sure  to  manifest  itself. 

In  the  fourth  molt  the  worms  are  a  very  inter- 
esting study,  as  then  they  are  large  enough  to 
permit  of  close  observation  of  eve^y^jnovem^nt, 
especially  with  the  aid  of  a  magnifier.  When  in 
the  act  of  molting  they  become  rigid.  The  head- 
covering  becomes  loose,  and  sometimes  drops  off 
before  they  are  free  from  the  old  skin  of  the  body; 
but  it  more  often  holds  on  by  a  single  thread  or 
bit  of  the  shell  until  after  the  worms  are  entirely 
free.  Sometimes  it  remains,  hanging  loosely,  for 
a  good  while.  Nature  is  very  wonderful  in  all 
her  works,  —  in  nothing  more  than  in  the  sil^- 
wornl.  As  the  labor  of  molting  goes  on,  the  old 


12  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

skin  is  seen  to  be  separate  from  the  new,  which 
has  formed  all  over  the  body  during  their  molt. 
Between  the  old  and  the  new  skin  there  is  a 


Beginning  of  Fourth  Age. 

watery  fluid,  provided  so  that  the  worms  can 
more  easily  slide  out  of  the  old  covering.  This 
action  is  still  further  aided  by  the  little  horn  that 
is  always  seen  on  the  back,  near  the  tail  of  the 
worm. 

When  the  worms  have  ceased  to  eat  before  each 
molt,  they  fasten  themselves  to  the  place  where 


End  of  Fourth  Age. 


they  are  resting.  This  fasten^  the  old  skin  so 
that  it  is  held  on  the  spot  while  the  worm  crawls 
out  of  its  old  house  into  a  seemingly  new  life. 


Skin  of  Worm. 


Head-covering. 


By  lifting  the  old  skin  up,  the  entire  outline  of 
the  worms  may  be  traced,  as  the  skin  is  stretched 
out  while  yet  moist. 


REARING    SILKWORMS. 


13 


When  the  worms  pass  through  the  fourth  molt, 
they  are  very  soft  and  limp,  and  remain  some- 
times for  hours  without  eating.  They  gradually 
gain  appetite,  and  in  a  couple  of  days  are  well 
filled  out  and  lively,  have  clear  white  or  yellowish 


Sixth  Day  of  Fourth  Molt. 

skins,  and  for  six  or  eight  days  are  voracious 
eaters.  Then  they  seem  to  lose  appetite,  and  lie 
in  one  place  on  the  trs^ys,  or  else  roam  atout  in 
search  of  a  place  to  spin  the  cocoons.  Before 
they  are  absolutely  ready  to  do  this,  all  the  waste 
matter  or  excrement  is  expelled  from  the  body, 
and  the  worms,  in  consequence  of  this  fact,  are 


Seventh  Day  of  Fourth  Molt. 


less  in  size,  and  have  assumed  a  semi-transparent 
appearance,  and  seem  like  little  sacks  of  silken 
fluid. 

/  During  the  life  of  the  silkworm,  it  secretes  from 
the   mulberry   leaf  not  only  the  soft,  beautiful 


14 


COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 


silk  of  the  world,  but  also  the  necessary  substance 
for  the  generating  or  reproducing  its  kind  for  suc- 
ceeding generations. 


Ninth  Day  of  Fourth  Molt. 

The  worm  secretes  the  silk  in  two  membranous 
tubes,  that  fold  and  enfolcl  in  longitudinal  layers 
nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  body.  These 
tubes  taper  toward  the  upper  end,  and  terminate 
in  two  little  holes,  called  spinnerets,  in  the  lower 
jaws.  Through  these  holes  the  silk  passes  out  of 
the  worm,  and  is  by  it  arranged  layer  upon  layer 


REARING    SILKWORMS. 


15 


all  over  the  cocoon  till  all  the  silk  substance  is 
emitted  from  the  tubes.     This  process  is  called 


Worm  Spinning  the  Cocoon. 

spinning   the   cocoon,  as   shown   above.     If  the 
worms  are  well  cared  for,  and  of  good  stock,  at 


Miller  Coming  Out. 


Whole  Cocoon, 


Pierced  Cocoon. 


Chrysalis. 


the  end  of  the  fifth  age  they  will  measure  3-J  or  4 
inches.     They  are  elongated  and  cylindrical  in 


16  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

form,  and  at  this  age  measure  If  inches  in  cir- 
cumference. 

The  head,  which  is  almost  circular,  is  covered 
with  a  thin  shell.  On  either  side  of  the  head  are 
four  eyes,  that  stand  out  like  little  pearls. 

The  mouth  is  in  the  center  of  the  head,  and 
lies  up  and  down,  instead  of  across,  as  in  most 
other  insects  and  animals. 

Near  the  eyes  are  two  major  feelers,  which  they 
use  on  all  objects  with  which  they  come  in  con- 
tact. Nearer  the  mouth  are  two  smaller  feelers, 
used  for  similar  purposes.  Then  come  the  two 
little  holes  called  spinnerets,  through  which  the 
silk  comes  from  the  silk-tubes  as*it  passes  up  in 
very  fine  fibers  to  the  cocoon. 

The  motion  the  worm  makes  with  its  head  as 
it  spins  the  cocoon,  twists  the  two  fine  filaments 
into  one  as  each  double  circle  is  laid  on  over  and 
over  s^gain  and  again  without  any  variation  or 
tangling,  provided  the  worms  have  been  properly 
cared  for  and  left  undisturbed  in  a  warm  atmos- 
phere during  the  time  of  spinning  the  cocoons. 

The  use  of  a  magnifier  will  show  that  the  bodies 
of  worms  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  ages  are  covered 
over  with  a  kind  of  bristle  resembling  pig's  bris- 
tles, though  not  nearly  so  numerous  as  on  the 
swine. 

The   silkworm   has   sixteen   paws.     The    first 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  17 

three  pair  are  seen  on  the  thorax,  or  chest,  of  the 
insect.  They  are  called  the  true,  or  permanent, 
legs,  because  they  remain  in  the  miller  state; 
while  the  other  five  pair,  seen  on  either  side  of 
the  abdomen,  disappear  as  the  wrrrrrrbecomes  the  - 
miller.  These  last-named  p&ws  are  thicker  than 
the  others,  and  are  heavily  covered  with  3own,  or 
fine  hairs.  They  serve  the  worm  to  hold  on  to 
the  branches,  as  well  as  to  enable  it  to  walk 
straight  forward  without  bending  the  body,  as  the 
measuring-worm  does  when  it  moves.  The  two 
lower  of  these  paws  are  situated  on  the  sides  of 
the  extreme  end  of  the  worm,  and  serve  a  very 
good  purpose  in  holding  on  with  fast" grip  to"  any 
object  on  which  it  climbs. 

The  entire  body  of  the  worm  is  divided  into 
twelve  rings.  The  first  three  surround  the  thorax, 
or  chest,  and  are  not  so  very  distinctly  marked 
as  the  other  nine,  which  are  on  the  lower  portion- 
of  the  body.  Tlie  last  pair  are  on  either  side  of 
the  fan-shaped  termination  of  the  abdomen, 
above  and  between  which  is  the  anus.  On  the 
upper  side  of  the  eighth  ring  is  a  small,  sharp, 
horn-like  organ.  /This,  serves  as  a  movable  lever 
when  the  worm  is  nrolting,  as  it  moves  back  and 
forth  with  the  movement  of  tha  worm  as  it  crawls 
out  of  the  old  skin,  which  it  lifts  up,  and  thus 
keeps  it  from  clinging  to  the  new  skin. 


18  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

Right  in  the  center  of  the  back,  under  the  skin, 
is  to  be  seen  a  straight,  thread-like  organ,  which 
always  pulsates  regularly  when  the  worm  is  in 
a  healthy  condition.  This  seems  to  contain  the 
food  in  the  first  process  of  digestion.  Below  this 
organ,  on  either  side,  and  closer  to  the  feet,  are 
nine  small  spots  or  holes  surrounded  by  short 
black  hairs.  These  are  the  breathing  apertures 
of  the  worm,  as  it  does  not,  like  most  insects  and 
animals,  breathe  through  the  nostrils  or  mouth. 

If  the  worm  be  examined  with  a  powerful  lens 
when  nearly  ready  to  spin,  it  may  be  seen  that 
from  these  little  holes  small,  black  thread-like 
organs  ramify  over  the  inside  surface  of  the  skin. 
These  may  also  be  seen  if  the  worm  be  dissected, 
and  the  skin  freed  from  its  contents.  These  will 
remain  and  be  very  clearly  seen,  radiating  in  all 
directions  from  the  center.  The  silkworm  has 
five  senses;  viz.,  hearing,  seeing,  smelling,  tasting, 
and  feeling.  Of  these,  the  senses  of  smell  and 
taste  are  the  keenest.  However  young  a  silk- 
worm may  be,  it  will  at  once  crawl  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  fresh  mulberry  leaf  and  begin  to  eat. 

to  ta_ste  or  eat  anything 


that  will  disagree  with  them,  unless  driven  by 
starvation.     The  silkworm*  is  a  cold-blooded  in-  . 
sect^  and  so  it  is  thai  it  always  maintains  the 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere   in  which   it   is 
reared. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  19 


SEX    OF    THE    SILKWORM. 

Concerning  the  sex  of  the  silkworm,  —  how  to 
detect  it  in  the  different  stages  of  its  changeful 
life,  etc.,  it  is  queried  which  makes  the  most  and 
the  best  silk,  etc.;  but  the  question  is  as  yet  an 
open  one,  waiting  for  some  as  yet  unknown 
"savant"  to  arise  and  settle  the  whole  matter. 

I  will  here  offer  my  theory,  searched  out  within 
the  past  few  years,  and  submitted  for  just  what 
it  is  worth.  It  is  based  on  the  harmonies  of 
nature,  and  is  as  follows:  — 

The  sex  is  not  determined  by  the  manner  of 
feeding,  either  abundantly  or  otherwise.  It  is 
not  in  the  ovum  of  the  female;  but  it  is  in  the 
semen  of  the  male,  the  same  as  it  is  in  all  animal 
nature.  In  speaking  of  creation,  the  Bible  says, 
"  Male  and  female  created  he  them."  This  was 
said  of  the  highest  type  of  animal  life,  and  of 
course  it  embraced  all  the  lesser  types,  however 
infinitesimal  they  may  appear  to  us. 

So  far  as  science  has  yet  discovered,  in  all 
perfect  males  there  are  two  sacs,  which  contain 
the  -seminal  fluid,  or  vitalizing  principle.  One 
of  these  contains  the  male  and  the  other  the 
female  element.  These  life-germs  are  injected 
into  the  ovum,  or  egg,  which  is  lodged  in  the 
womb  of  the  female  insect,  or  animal.  In  the 


20  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

silkworm  this  organ  differs  very  much  from 
larger  types  of  animal  life.  In  the  silk-miller  it 
consists  of  long,  slender  membranous  tubes,  fold- 
ing and  enfolding  longitudinally  in  the  body  of 
the  female  miller.  In  dissecting  the  insects, 
these  tubes  may  be  stretched  out  so  that  the  eggs 
appear  like  strings  of  the  smallest  pearls  inside 
the  tubes. 

When  the  male  and  female  millers  are  coupled, 
the  vitalizing  substance  passes  up  these  tubes 
and  fertilizes  the  eggs.  In  the  body  of  the 
female  miller  there  is  a  strong  ligament  passing 
down  the  body  to  the  extreme  end.  When  she 
deposits  her  eggs,  this  ligament  extends  into 
sight,  and  on  either  side  appears  an  egg,  which 
she  carefully  deposits,  and  attaches  to  the  ma- 
terial on  which  she  lays;  then  she  in  like  manner 
deposits  from  the  other  side,  and  so  on,  till  all 
her  store  of  eggs  has  been  expelled  from  the 
body.  Here  I  hold  that  sex  is  distinctly  and 
separately  deposited,  having  been  previously 
determined  in  the  body  of  the  male.  There 
must  be  a  beginning  of  the  sex,  and  when  once 
begun,  it  never  can  be  changed  by  human  action 
or  invention. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  a  more  careful  appli- 
cation of  the  X  rays  may  give  more  light  on  this 
subject. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  21 


FEEDING   SILKWORMS. 

When  the  worm  has  sufficiently  developed  in 
the  shell,  it  makes  a  hole  in  the  side  and  comes 
out,  usually  head  first.  At  first  it  is  all  covered 
with  black  hairs,  or  fine  feathers,  similar  to 
those  which  in  after  life  appear  all  over  the  hody 
and  wings  of  the  miller.  These  hairs  fall  off  in 
a  few  days.  At  first  the  worm  is  about  an  eighth 
of  an  inch  long. 

If  the  eggs  are  kept  in  cold-storage,  they 
should  be  brought  by  degrees  from  a  temperature 
of  40°  F.,  first  to  50°,  then  60°,  then  70°,  at  which 
temperature  they  should  be  kept  night  and  day 
till  the  worms  have  spun  their  cocoons.  They 
should  never  be  placed  either  in  the  draft  or 
sunshine.  Within  from  seven  to  twenty  days 
from  the  time  of  taking  the  eggs  from  cold-stor- 
age they  will  begin  to  hatch  out  of  the  shells. 

If  the  eggs  were  all  right  when  put  in,  ninety- 
five  per  cent,  at  least,  will  come  out.  A  very 
slight  clicking  noise  will  be  heard  from  the  trays 
on  which  the  eggs  are  spread  out.  This  is  caused 
by  the  bursting  of  the  shells,  and  soon  multi- 
tudes of  worms  will  be  seen  crawling  among  the 
eggs  and  empty  shells'.  The  worms  hatch  out  in 
the  morning. 


22  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

Within  the  first  hour  after  they  begin  to 
appear,  take  a  piece  of  mosquito-netting  already 
prepared,  and  spread  it  over  the  worms.  Have 
ready  some  young  mulburry  leaves  cut  as  fine  as 
cut  tobacco  (not  cncffped  like  salad),  and  sprinkle 
the  leaves  evenly  over  the  worms.  If  they  are 
very  numerous  and  come  up  quickly,  take  off 
that  piece  of  netting  soon  and  place  it  on  a  clean 
tray,  and  put  on  another  piece  of  netting  as  at 
the  first,  and  also  sprinkle  with  the  cut  leaves. 
On  the  first  tray  place  a  card  with  the  words, 
"  First  hatch,  May  10, 1902,"  or  whatever  the  date 
may  happen  to  be.  Be  sure  that  this  card  is 
kept  with  the  first  hatch  throughout  all  the 
changes  and  molts.  In  an  hour  or  so,  remove 
the  second  piece  of  netting,  and  mark  it  as 
"Second  hatch,"  with  date  as  before  directed,  and 
so  on,  in  like  manner,  for  three  days,  or  until  the 
eggs  have  all  hatched. 

Never  lose  the  dates,  or  in  any  way  mix  the 
trays  of  worms.  Then  they  will  all  molt  at  the 
same  time,  and  will  all  be  ready  to  spin  at  the 
same  time. 

In  about  two  or  three  hours  after  the  first  feed, 
feed  again,  and  so  on  for  four  days,  and  as  late 
as  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  by  five 
every  morning.  They  will  begin  to  lose  their 
appetite  on  the  third  or  fourth  day,  and  will  soon 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  23 

refuse  to  eat,  and  fall  into  a  kind  of  slumber, 
which  is  called  the  first  molt.  While  in  this 
state  they  look  like  little  bits  of  rusty  wire.  On 
the  morning  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  day  may  be 
seen  a  slight,  quick  motion  among  the  little 
worms,  as  they  shake  off  their  old  head-cover- 
ings, and  crawl  out  of  their  little  skins,  and  set 
out  on  a  search  for  food.  This  should  be  given 
them  as  at  the  first,  by  spreading  fresh  netting 
over  the  trays  and  sprinkling  fresh-cut  leaves 
over  them.  The  worms  have  now  changed 
appearance.  The  head  is  a  light  brownish  color, 
the  body  a  light  silver-gray.  They  eat  heartily, 
and  should  be  fully  gratified  with  fresh,  whole- 
some leaves,  either  cut  in  strips  as  wide  as  they 
are  long,  or  else  the  whole  leaves  on  the  branch- 
lets.  When  leaves  are  cut,  they  should  be  rolled 
up  as  hard  as  can  be,  in  rolls  an  inch  in 
diameter.  Hold  them  tight  with  the  left  hand, 
and  cut  down  across  through  the  middle.  Then 
put  both  halves  together,  and  slice  down  the 
leaves  till  the  roll  is  all  cut.  Toss  them  up  with 
the  hand,  and  then  they  will  sprinkle  lightly 
wherever  you  need  them. 

During  this  age  the  worms  measure  from  one 
half  to  three  quarters  of  an  inch.  In  four  or  five 
days  they  lose  appetite,  and  again  fall  into  a 
stupor  or  molt.  In  this  they  remain  as  at  the 


COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 


first,  and  awake  to  eat  and  grow,  and  grow  and 
eat,  continuously.  When  they  awake  from  this 
the  second  molt,  unless  there  be  very  coarse 
netting  or  perforated  paper,  it  is  best  to  feed  by 
putting  on,  very  carefully,  small  branches.  Care 
must  be  taken  not  to  let  the  twigs  rest  on  the 
little  worms  so  as  to  crush  them.  Let  each  worm 
have  about  the  square  of  itself  on  the  tray. 


Tray  with  leaves  spread  over  the  worms  as  they  should  be.    There 
is  room  for  many  more  than  appear  in  the  cut. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  25 

When  the  worms  are  fed  with  cut  leaves,  the 
trays  should  be  emptied  of  all  refuse  leaves,  and 
well  aired  every  day  or  every  other  day,  if  the 
weather  be  very  dry  and  clear.  The  waste  mat- 
ter, if  left,  is  very  apt  to  sour,  and  such  a  condi- 
tion will  surely  affect  the  worms  unfavorably. 
Too  much  care  caginot  be  given  to  cleanliness  in 
every  department  of  the  cocoonery. 

The  second  molt  brings  the  worms  to  the  third 
age.  They  undergo  the  same  period  of  inactivity. 
It  is  more  noticeable  how  soft  and  limp  they  are 
after  the  change,  but  they  very  soon  "  fill  up," 
and  during  this  age  they  measure  from  1  to  1^ 
inches  in  length.  Each  successive  molt  seems 
to  affect  the  worms  more  and  more  seriously,  and 
they  are  more  slow  in  recovering  from  the  effect 
of  what,  in  some  countries,  is  called  their  sick- 
nesses. Their  long  fast,  and  the  extra  exertion 
of  casting  their  skins,  is  a  severe  drain  on  their 
vitality,  which  it  requires  a  little  time  to  recover. 

The  third  rnolt  comes  on  in  five  or  six  days 
more..  In  this  the  fourth  age  they  seem  to  grow 
more  rapidly  than  before.  They  eat  very  freely, 
and,"  too,  of  more  mature  leaves.  In  this  age 
they  should  be  fed  very  freely.  The  branches, 
fresh  and  clean,  should  be  laid  on  every  three  or 
four  hours.  Indeed,  they~should  never  be  left 
without  fresh  food  all  day.  A  feed  at  ten  or 
eleven  o'clock  a»t  night,  and  another  between  mid- 


26  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

night  and  three,  A.  M.,  will  be  found  of  great  use 
in  the  increase  of  both  the  quantity  and  quality 
of  silk,  as  well  as  giving  ability  to  the  worms  to 
complete  their  work  in  a  shorter  time,  than  if  left 
to  roam  over  empty  branches,  looking  in  vain 
for  food.  In  this  age  the  worms  grow  to  1^  to  2 
inches,  ahd  hence  many  more  trays  will  have  to 
be  provided,  as  it  is  not  best  at  any  time  to  crowd 
worms  on  the  trays.  The  fourth  and  last  molt  is 
the  most  critical  in  silkworm  life.  In  silk  coun- 
tries, where  diseases  are  prevalent,  there  is  most 
anxiety  felt,  as  then  most  ailments  are  manifested, 
and  often  a  large  part  of  the  silk  crop  is  lost 
through  disease.  Great  care  should  be  taken  to 
give  an  abundance  of  fresh  air,  fresh  food,  and 
plenty  of  room,  both  on  the  tijays  and  in  the 
racks.  At  first,  and  for  a  few  days,  they  seem 
soft  and  limp,  but  soon  they  eat  voraciously  and 
grow  strong,  and  seem  as  plump  as  little  sausages. 
They  seem  to  make  a  business  of  eating,  and  at- 
tend strictly  to  it.  In  this  age,  especially,  they 
faever  should  be  left  an  hour  without  fresh  food.  "* 

During  the  last  two  days  of  the  fifth  age  they 
will  not  eat  so  much,  and  gradually  lose  all  desire 
for  food,  and  wander  over  the  trays,  looking  for 
places  to  spin  their  cocoons.  Sometimes  they  will 
settle  on  one  spot  of -the  fray  and  wait  till  all  the 
refuse  matter  passes  from  their  bodies,  and  then 
they  look  for  a  place  to  deposit  their  load  of  silk. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  27 

Wherever  silkworms  locate  to  spin,  whether  on 
the  tray,  under  the  dry  leaves,  in  a  canopy  in 
branches  (or  little  round  coops,  where  they  may_^ 
be  placed  for  closer  inspection),  they  always 
throw  out  silk  threads  or  strands  to  sustain  them- 
selves while  spinning  their  cocoons.  . 

'They  fix  these  strands  back  and  forth  to  the 
adjacent  object.  When  they  feel  themselves  se- 
cure, they  proceed  to  draw  the  outlines  of  the 
cocoons,  and  then  pass  all  round  the  cocoons, 
putting  on  a  fresh  layer  each  time,  till  their  store 
of  silk-fluid  is  all  exhausted.  Every  thread  of 
silk  is  put  on  in  a  double  circle,  and  for  this  rea- 
son it  never  tangles  in  being  taken  off.  A  perfect 
cocoon  is  the  same  thickness  all  round. 

The  silk  comes  out  through  two  little  holes 
called  spinnerets,  where,  as  before  stated,  the 
silk  tubes  or  ducts  terminate.  The  motion  that 
the  worms  make  with  their  heads  in  the  act  of 
putting  the  silk  on  the  cocoons  twists  these  two 
threads  into^one. 

If  worms  are  properly  cared  for,  they  will  spin 
their  co'coons  in  two  or  three  days.  In  feeding 
bran'ches  during  the  last  three  ages  of  the  worms, 
it  is  well  to  lay-the  branches  lengthwise  and 
then  crosswise,  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  lattice- 
work of  the  branches.  The  worms  crawl  over 
these  branches  and  eat  the  leaves  directly  from 
them.  This  mode  of  feeding  allows  a  much 


28  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

better  circulation  of  air,  and  prevents  the  worms 
from  crowding  on  one  another.  When  fed  solid 
leaves,  they  are  very  apt  to  mat  down,  and  then 
become  heated  and  emit  an  unsavory  odor,  which 
never  should  be  allowed  in  the  cocoonery. 

If  the  air  of  the  room  be  very  pure  and  dry, 
and  the  lower  branches  become  dry,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  remove  the  worms  to  clean  trays 
every  day,  but  if  the  refuse  and  the  portions  of 
leaves  not  eaten  seem  moist  and  likely  to  mold 
or  sour,  they  should  be  changed  to  fresh  trays 
by  lifting  the  branches,  the  upper  layers  with 
the  worms  on  them.  Set  them  on  fresh  trays, 
and  put  the  used  trays  out  to  air,  and  let  them 
be  perfectly  dried  before  using  again.  It  is  many 
times  best,  as  it  saves  much  time  and  labor  to 
take  out  the  trays  from  the  racks.  Spread  a 
cloth  (such  as  is  used  to  cover  the  leaves  to  keep 
the  moisture  in)  on  the  floor,  take  one  tray  at  a 
time,  lay  one  side  on  the  cloth,  and  hold  the 
other  at 'an  angle  of  about  fifty  degrees.  Hold 
the  frame  with  your  left  hand,  and  with  the 
right  hand  gently  lift  up  the  branches  and  shake 
them  so  as  to  shake  also  the  tray.  In  this  way 
all  the  dirt  and  litter  will  roll  down,  and  you 
can  put  the  trays  back  in  place  and  feed  the 
worms.  When  there  are  two  persons  in  the 
cocoonery,  this  work  can  be  done  very  much 
more  quickly. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  29 


ARRANGEMENTS   FOR   SPINNING. 

When  the  worms  find  in  themselves  that 
they  have  extracted  from  their  food  and  stored 
away  in- their  gilk  cells  or  ^ducts  all  the  silk  they 
can  retemxjjihey.  begin  to  look  for  a  place  to  spin. 
Something  in  their  nature  prompts  them  to  look 
up,  and  if  ,np  proper  place  he  provided,  they  will 
even  crawl  up  to  the  ceiling,  and  form  their 
cocoons  by  attaching  them  to  the  ceiling  and  the 
wall.  ^ 

A  great  many  ways  have  been  tried  by  those 
who  have  from  time  to  time  engaged  in  the  silk 
business  in  this  -country.  Some  have  tried 
branches  laid  transversely  all  over  the  trays, 
mixing  with  the  branches  coarse  straw,  or  excel- 
sior, or  paper  torn  in  strips.  Others  put  the 
branches  all  round  the  trays  where  they  are  feed- 
ing, and  hope  they  will  take  to  the  branches  when 
they  get  ready  to  spin.  Others  make  arches  of 
branches  over  the  spinning-trays,  and  let  the 
worms  mount  up  into  the  arches  when  they  get 
ready.  This  is  a  very  good  way,  but  very 
troublesome,  and  calls  for  a  constant  renewal  of 
the  branches,  as  they  canno't  very  readily  be* 
cleaned*  Others,  again,  make  frames  something 
like  the  feeding-trays,  only  the  frames  are  deeper, 


30  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

by  turning  the  slats  the  opposite  way.  They  are 
covered  with  burlap,  and  over  the  frames  mos- 
quito-netting is  drawn  tightly,  and  tacked  all 
round.  Then  there  are  a  few  holes  cut,  about  one 
by  one  half-inch,  in  the  netting.  When  the  worms 
are  all  ready  to  spin,  they  are  taken  up  gently 
and  dropped  into  these  holes,  and  a  piece  of 
pasteboard  laid  over  the  holes  to  keep  them  from 
getting  away.  They  will  wander  about  for  a 
while,  but  being  unable  to  get  out,  they  will 
finally  settle  down  and  spin.  It  is  wise  to  put  in 
these  frames  something  to  keep  the  netting  from 
sagging  down;  also  put  in  some  wads  of  crinkled 
paper,  —  newspaper  will  do,  if  you  have  nothing 
better.  Worms  always  want  something  near-by 
to  cling  to  as  they  throw  out  their  supporting 
strands  of  silk. 

Another  mode  is  to  suspend  branches  from  the 
tray  above.  Fix  them  so  as  to  just  touch  the 
tray  on  which  the  worms  are.  Some  of  them 
will  mount,  but  they  are  liable  to  wander  about. 

Yet  another  style  is  to  take  a  tray  such  as  the 
worms  feed  on,  and  pile  it  up  about  a  foot  high 
with  little  branches  and  pieces  of  crinkled  paper. 
Let  them  be  loosely  put  on.  Then  set  this  tray 
between  two  trays  that  are  ready  to  spin,  and  the 
worms  will  crawl  up  on  either  side.  The  tray 
fixed  for  spinning  will  accommodate  both  the 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  31 

other  trays,  as  there  will  be  several  tiers  among 
the  branches. 

All  these  different  methods  have  their  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages. 

The  greatest  objection  to  them  all  is,  that  the 
worms  are  at  liberty  to  roam  where  they  will, 
and  they  will  wander  about  till  they  find  suitable 
places  in.  which  to  spin  their  cocoons.  Besides, 
wherever  branches  are  used,  they  have" to  be  re- 
newed almost  every  timefthey  are  used.  This  is 
a  great  trouble,  as  it  is  hard  to  find  suitable 
branches  in  many  places  in  California.  Another 
thing  is,  the  branches  have  to  be  very  clean,  else 
they  will  give  the  cocoons  a  soiled  and  objection- 
able appearance,  which  detracts  from  their 
market  value. 

Having  proved  all  the  above  arrangements  for 
worms  to  spin  in  to  be  unsatisfactory,  during  the 
summer  of  1901  I  designed  and  had  made  what  I 
call  a  canopy.  This  I  believe  to  be,  all  points 
considered,  the  best  and  most  economical  of  any- 
thing yet  presented  to  the  public  in  this  line  of 
the  silk  industry.  The  special  points  of  advan- 
tage are  as  follows:  — 

1.  When  once  made,  these  canopies  will  last 
a  lifetime. 

2.  They  can  always  be  kept  clean. 

3.  When  not  in  use,  they  can  be  stored  away 


32 


COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 


in   comparatively    small    space;    and    they    are 
always  ready  for  use. 


S 


No.  1  Canopy  open  on  a  table. 


No.  2  Canopy  closed  on  the  tray,  showing  cocoons  in  the  canopy 
and  mulberry  leaves  on  the  table. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  33 

4.  The  cocoons  in  them  are  always  clean. 

5.  The  worms  are  above  all  debris,  which,  when 
dry,  often  hurts  their  tender  little   bodies.     It 
may  all  be  removed   when  all  the  worms  have 
mounted,  and   the   trays   brushed   out  without 
disturbing  the  worms. 

6.  The  worms,  being  elevated,  can  get  plenty 
of  fresh  air,  which  is  an  essential  to  them  while 
spinning. 

7.  The  cocoons,  when  ready,  are  taken  from 
the  canopies  in  far  less  time  than  from  any  of 
the  arrangements  before  mentioned.     When  the 
cocoons  are  ready  to  be  taken  out,  take  the  piece 
of  cloth  from  the  gable  end  of  the  canopy  and  lift 
it  from  the  tray,  lay  it  on  a  table  or  stretcher 
opened  out  as  it  was  before  being  put  on  the  tray, 
then  pass  the  hand  up  and  down  through  each 
compartment,   taking   the   cocoons    out    by    the 
handful.    If  there  be  much  floss  left  on  the  slats, 
take  a  damp  cloth  or  brush  and  pass  it  up  and 
down,  and  it  will  readily  adhere  and  come  off, 
leaving  the  canopy  all  clean.    Place  on  the  tray, 
and  it  is  ready  to  be  again  used. 

DESCRIPTION   OF   CANOPY. 

2  slats  30  inches  long,  1  x  ^  inch  wide. 

4  slats  30  inches  long,  1  x  £  inch  wide. 
36  slats  17  inches  long,  1  x  £  inch  wide. 
18  slats  10  inches  long,  1  x  ^  inch  wide. 


34  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

The  two  30-inch  slats  are  the  two  bottom-stays 
of  the  canopy,  into  which  are  jointed  the  36  slats 
17  inches  long,  18  into  each  slat.  The  upper  ends 
are  jointed  into  two  of  the  other  30-inch  slats. 
This  completes  the  two  sides.  Into  the  other  two 
30-inch  slats  are  jointed  the  eighteen  10-inch 
slats,  which  forms  the  top  of  the  canopy.  The 
two  upper  edges  of  the  sides  are  placed  by  the  two 
outer  edges  of  the  top  piece,  and  fastened  together 
by  two  pairs  of  small  hinges.  Strips  of  strong 
cloth  may  be  glued  on,  instead  of  hinges. 

Now  take  a  piece  of  unbleached  muslin,  a  few,, 
inches  longer  than  the  canopy  when  stretched 
out.  Spread  it  all  over  smoothly.  Have  four 
very  thin  strips  (^-inch  will  do),  30  inches  long, 
and  tack  them  on  the  slats  into  which  the  17-inch 
upright  strips  are  jointed,  and  the  10-inch  strips 
for  the  top.  Tack  down  the  strips  with  small 
brads,  having  first  very  carefully  stretched  the 
cloth  straight  and  tight.  These  strips  will  hold 
the  cloth  firmly  on  top  of  the  canopy.  Turn  it 
upside  down  on  the  table  and  fasten  all  the  outer 
edges  of  the  cloth  onto  the  outer  edges  of  the 
frame  with  paste  made  of  flour  and  water  boiled. 
Apply  with  a  brush  or  the  hand.  Have  a  feeding- 
tray  ready  by  driving  two-inch  nails  in  each  side 
six  inches  from  the  ends  and  one  half-inch  from 
the  edges. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  35 

Lift  up  the  canopy  from  the  table  and  let  it 
come  together  as  near  as  the  top  piece  will  admit 
it.  Set  it  on  the  tray,  inside  the  nails  which  are 
designed  to  keep  it  in  place.  Then  take  a  piece 
of  the  same  kind  of  cloth  as  the  cover,  and  stretch 
it  over  one  end,  fastening  it  on  with  pins.  Put 
three  or  four  in  the  lower  end,  on  the  tray,  and 
the  others  on  the  canopy.  The  lower  pins  need 
not  often  be  removed.  When  the  paste  is  dry, 
the  canopy  is  ready  to  be  placed  over  a  tray  of 
worms  that  are  all  ready  to  spin.  Have  the  tray 
ready  with  the  nails  in  before  you  put  the  worms 
on.  Take  out  the  lower  pins  and  lay  the  canopy 
over  the  worms.  Again  pin  down  the  end  piece, 
and  you  will  soon  see  them  mounting  up  the 
narrow  streets  and  all  over  the  top,  and  in  due 
time  every  spot  will  have  a  clean,  beautiful 
cocoon. 

It  is  always  best  to  put  in  a  few  branches  under 
the  canopy  at  first,  and  even  several  times,  if  the 
worms  are  slow  in  going  up  to  spin. 

These  canopies  seem  to  be  very  troublesome 
affairs  at  first;  but  when  it  is  remembered  how 
,long  they  last  and  how  much  better  the  work  is 
done  in  them,  the  balance  is  largely  in  their 
favor. 


36  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 


COCOONS  — HOW   TO   CARE   FOR   THEM. 

The  cocoons  out  of  which  the  millers  have 
come  are  called  pierced  cocoons.  They  have  a 
commercial  value  only  equal  to  that  of  waste  silk. 
When  the  millers  come  out,  they  leave  behind 
them  in  the  cocoons  both  the  skins  of  the  worms 
in  which  they  existed  while  spinning  the  cocoons, 
and  also  the  shells  of  the  chrysalis  into  which 
they  passed  from  the  worm  state,  and  again  into 
the  miller,  which  is  the  last,  or  seventh,  age  of 
silkworm  life. 

Where  pierced  cocoons  are  used,  these  animal 
substances  are  dissolved  by  chemicals,  and  then 
the  silk  is  cleansed  before  it  is  carded  and  spun 
for  manufacturing. 

The  cocoons  that  are  not  pierced  should  be 
steamed  within  six  or  seven  days  after  the  worms 
mounted  to  spin.  If  working  on  a  small  scale, 
have  a  boiler  of  water  at  the  boiling-point  before 
you  put  the  cocoons  to  steam,  as  it  kills  them 
much  quicker.  Put  them  into  a  tray,  as  here- 
after described,  not  more  than  three  or  four 
inches  deep.  Cover  them  over  with  a  clean  cloth, 
and  then  with  several  folds  of  newspaper,  so  as 
to  retain  in  with  the  cocoons  every  particle  of 
steam.  Let  none  be  scattered  outside  the  rim  of 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  37 

the  boiler.  Let  them  steam  twenty  minutes  or 
half  an  hour.  Remove  the  papers;  lift  off  the 
tray  from  the  boiler  and  deftly  turn  it  upside 
down  on  another  tray;  let  the  steam  pass  off, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  cocoons  will  have  suffi- 
ciently hardened  for  you  to  separate  them  and 
spread  them  out  to  dry.  In  a  day  or  two,  they 
had  better  be  put  in  cotton  bags,  each  bag  about 
three  quarters  full.  Hang  up  the  bags  in  an  airv 
place  to  dry,  and  toss  them  up  in  the  bags  every 
day.  This  can  be  done  without  untying  the  bags. 

If  working  on  a  large  scale  in  a  cocoonery,  the 
better  way  would  be  to  have  a  fruit-dryer,  and 
heat  the  dryer  hot  enough  to  kill  the  chrysalis, 
and  afterwards  keep  it  hot  enough  to  thoroughly 
dry  the  cocoons. 

Great  care  is  necessary  in  the  caring  for  as 
well  as  in  the  drying  of  cocoons.  In  order  to 
keep  them  from  molding,  every  particle  of 
moisture  must  be  absorbed,  They  must  be 
thoroughly  desiccated.  Insects  and  mice  are  very 
fond  of  the  chrysal^,  and  will  destroy  the  cocoons 
to  get  at  them. 

Cocoons  are  designated  by  their  color,  as  well 
as  by  the  race  of  worms  from  which  they  come. 
The  most  noted  and  best  varieties  now  used  in 
Europe  are  the  small  yellow  Italian,  the  large 
yellow  French,  the  white  Japanese,  and  the 
Turkish  white. 


38  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

There  are  two  principal  varieties  used  in  Japan, 
—  the  deep  yellow  and  the  pure  white,  the  latter 
said  to  produce  the  finest  silk  in  the  world. 

Green  cocoons  are  not  now  held  in  high  esteem 
by  any  nation.  The  silk  is  very  soft,  but  not  as 
strong  as  either  the  white  or  yellow. 

GREEN    AND    DRY    COCOONS. 

Green  or  fresh  cocoons  are  those  that  are  just 
spun,  as  also  up  to  the  time  when  they  are  per- 
fectly dry.  They  should  never  be  put  away  or 
packed  in  close  vessels,  or  even  in  sacks,  because 
they  are  very  apt  to  mold.  The  sacks  when 
half  full  may  be  shaken  up  every  day,  and  in 
that  way  the  cocoons  may  be  dried.  If  a  filature 
is  near-by,  it  is  better  to  dispose  of  green  cocoons, 
than  to  spend  the  time  drying  them. 

It  will  require  150  to  600  green  cocoons  to 
weigh  one  pound.  It  requires  three  to  three  and 
a  half  times  as  many  dry  cocoons  to  give  the 
same  weight.  The  price  of  dry  cocoons  is  as 
much  greater  as  the  weight  is  less. 

QUANTITY    OF    SILK    ON    COCOONS. 

The  best  breed  of  cocoons,  under  the  most  care- 
ful management,  will  yield  eighteen  hundred 
yards  of  silk.  As  yet,  we  have  none  of  this  breed 
in  the  United  States.  Our  good  stock  will  yield 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  39 

one  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  yards,  while 
those  insignificant,  illy  cared  for,  papery  cocoons, 
raised  merely  for  pastime  or  pleasure,  will  scarce 
give  off  two  hundred  yards.  This  shows  the  folly 
of  attempting  to  do  work  the  wrong  way.  It 
gives  a  false  impression  of  the  real  value  of  the 
silk  business. 

The  relative  value  of  cocoons  is  determined  hy 
color,  sinew,  evenness  of  thread,  and  freedom 
from  gum.  The  white  Japan  are  said  to  have 
less  gum  than  any  other  breed  we  have  here. 
The  silk  from  yellow  or  green  cocoons  can  never 
be  bleached  as  white  as  the  silk  from  the  pure 
white.  Neither  will  the  silk  from  colored  cocoons 
take  the  most  delicate  shades  of  dye.  This  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  the  pure  white  cocoons 
are  in  greater  demand  than  the  colored. 

Double  cocoons  have,  as  a  rule,  very  strong 
silk,  but  as  they  cannot  be  reeled  because  the  two 
worms,  working  together,  tangle  the  silk  on  the 
cocoons,  they  are  valueless  for  reeling,  and  there- 
fore their  value  is  only  that  of  waste  silk. 

In  France,  the  price  of  cocoons  ranges,  for  green 
cocoons,  from  30  to  35  cents;  for  dry  cocoons, 
from  80  cents  to  $1.50  per  pound.  The  same 
prices  should  be  paid  in  the  United  States,  or 
even  more. 

Twelve  hundred  good  cocoons  with  the  insect 
entirely  removed  will  weigh  one  pound. , 


40  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 


COCOONS    FOR    BREEDING. 

When  the  cocoons  are  taken  from  the  branches, 
trays,  or  canopies  where  they  were  spun,  select 
the  best,  —  i.  e.,  the  most  regular  in  shape  and 
the  most  evenly  spun.  Have  shallow  boxes 
about  two  inches  deep  all  ready,  with  soft  paper 
in  the  bottoms,  and  take  alternately  a  large 
plump  cocoon  and  a  long  slender  one,  and  lay 
them  one  tier  deep  in  the  boxes.  Handle  them 
very  gently,  and  lay  the  boxes  away  in  the  hatch- 
ing-room, or  on  trays,  where  they  will  not  be 
disturbed.  Do  not  let  them  be  in  the  draft  or 
sunshine  at  any  time.  Keep  the  temperature  'up 
to  70°  all  the  time  of  incubation.  In  eight  or 
ten  days  from  the  selecting  of  the  cocoons,  early 
in  the  morning  the  millers  will  begin  to  emerge 
from  their  silken  homes. 


HEARING    SILKWORMS.  41 


MILLERS  — HOW   TO   CARE    FOR    THEM. 

When  the  millers  make  their  appearance  from 
the  cocoons,  at  first  they  are  wet  all  over.  The 
head  first  appears,  and  they  gradually  work 
themselves  out  till  the  entire  body  is  free  from 
its  cage.  Their  general  appearance  is  as  if  they 
had  risen  from  a  bath. 

The  male  millers,  as  soon  as  they  are  out,  at 
once  go  on  a  search  for  their  mates.  They  cease- 
lessly flutter  their  wings  as  they  go  from  one  to 
another,  till  they  at  last  find  a  female  with  which 
they  couple.  Let  all  that  will,  couple  and  remain 
coupled  for  six  hours.  If  there  come  out  more 
of  one  sex  than  the  other,  the  odd  ones  should  be 
removed  to  another  box  till  the  next  day,  when, 
perhaps,  the  balance  will  be  made  even,  and  all 
will  eventually  be  mated.  Sometimes  the  millers 
will  separate  before  the  end  of  six  hours.  When 
this  occurs,  it  is  well  to  remove  the  male  from 
the  box  and  put  another  in  his  place,  or  else  put 
the  female  in  the  box  with  the  surplus  males.  In 
a  very  short  time  she  will  couple  with  a  fresh 
male.  Then  lift  them  gently  by  the  wings  of  the 
female  and  place  them  in  the  mating-box  with 
the  others. 

When  the  time  is  up  to  separate  the  millers, 


42 


COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 


Male  Miller. 


have  shallow  boxes  ready,  and  place  smoothly  in 
the  bottom  of  each  box  one  or  more  sheets  of 
blank  newspaper  (which  can  be  bought  at  sta- 
tioners at  ten  cents  a  pound).  On  both  sides 


Miller  and  Eggs. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  43 

should  be  written  the  color  of  the  cocoon  from 
which  the  millers  came,  the  day  of  the  month, 
and  the  year.  It  is  well,  also,  to  put  strips  of 
paper  round  the  sides  of  the  boxes,  as  the  millers 
at  times  lay  on  the  sides  of  the  boxes.  Cover  the 
boxes  and  lay  them  aside  in  a  quiet,  dark  room 
for  forty-eight  hours.  Then  the  millers  may  be 
thrown  away,  if  not  wanted  to  be  preserved  for 
fancy-work  or  demonstration  when  preserved  and 
mounted. 

When  the  business  is  carried  on  on  a  large 
scale,  instead  of  boxes  a  room  is  so  arranged  by 
dividing  it  into  compartments  having  partitions 
six  or  eight  inches  high,  running  the  entire  length 
of  the  room.  These  aisles  should  be  about 
twenty-eight  inches  wide,  with  an  aisle  about 
twelve  inches  between.  This  is  to  allow  the 
attendant  to  care  for  the  millers. 

When  the  millers  are  separated  and  placed  in 
boxes  or  aisles  to  lay,  each  miller  should  be 
allowed  the  square  of  itself,  so  that  there  be  no 
crowding.  If  at  the  appointed  time  the  millers 
have  not  all  separated,  take  hold  of  the  female 
miller  by  both  wings  with  the  left  hand,  and  the 
male  with  the  right  hand,  and  with  the  third 
finger  press  lightly  on  the  abdomen  of  the  male. 
This  act  will  make  it  loosen  its  hold.  Many 
millers  lay  their  eggs  in  a  few  hours  after  being 


44  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

put  away.  The  best  eggs  are  laid  en  masse,  or  in 
semicircles.  Eggs  that  are  laid  scattering  about 
are,  as  a  rule,  not  worth  saving.  They  never 
should  be  laid  in  heaps. 

When  taken  from  the  boxes,  the  papers  should 
be  hung  on  files  from  the  wall,  so  they  will  not 
press  one  on  the  other. 


oO 

•'  • 


Best  Eggs. 

Silkworm  eggs  are  about  the  size  of  mustard 
seed,  not  orange-shape,  but  depressed  on  both 
upper  and  under  side.  When  first  laid  they  are 
yellow,  and,  viewed  with  a  magnifier,  they  seem 
full  of  liquid  of  the  same  hue.  They  may  be 
considered  as  annuals,  bivoltines,  and  poly- 
voltines.  Annuals  hatch  once  a  year;  bivoltines, 
twice;  and  polyvoltines,  three,  four,  or  more 
times,  according  to  their  good  or  careless  feeding 
or  care. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  45 

In  two  or  three  days  after  laying,  those  that 
are  seen  to  begin  to  change  color  will  not  hatch 
out  very  soon.  In  a  few  more  days  they  will 
have  become  quite  a  dark  slate-color,  and  a 
magnifiying-glass  will  show  that  each  egg  is  full 
of  a  liquid  in  which  is  floating  very  fine  spots  or 
particles,  some  larger  than  others.  These  little 
spots  are  the  vitalized  particles,  that  in  due  time 
collect  round  the  outer  edge  of  the  shell,  condense, 
and  produce  the  little  worm,  which,  as  soon  as 
nature  has  completed  her  work  inside  the  shell, 
comes  to  the  outside  world  through  a  hole  in  the 
side  of  the  shell.  As  the  work  of  developing  the 
worm  progresses,  the  center  of  the  shell  becomes 
depressed,  and  the  edge  elevated  as  the  growth 
of  the  worm  inside  presses  it  up. 

The  polyvoltines,  or  those  eggs  that  will  hatch 
out  within  ten  days  to  three  weeks,  do  not  change 
to  darker  color,  as  the  others,  but,  instead,  there 
may  be  seen  in  them,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  or 
fifth  day,  a  sort  of  filmy  substance  all  through 
the  shell.  Gradually  this  condenses  toward  the 
outer  edge,  and  then  is  seen,  apparently,  the 
outline  of  the  worm,  though  so  filmy  and  light 
as  to  be  almost  invisible.  In  a  few  more  days 
the  eggs  are  a  bright  lavender  or  slate  color,  and 
the  entire  form  of  the  worm  may  be  distinctly 
seen.  Then  very  soon  the  little  worm  will  hatch 
out  and  look  for  its  natural  food,  mulberry  leaves. 


46  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

Scientific  experiments  have  proved  that  silkworm 
eggs  may  be  so  managed  that  with  the  aid  of  cold- 
storage  (below  40°  F.)  they  may  be  kept  more 
than  a  year,  and  taken  out  whenever  the  food 
and  accommodations  for  them  are  all  ready. 

Eggs  must  be  put  into  cold-storage  while  yet 
the  vital  particles  are  seen  floating  separately  in 
the  fluid  contained  in  the  shell.  If  they  are  put 
into  storage  after  these  particles  begin  to  concen- 
trate round  the  outer  edge  of  the  egg  forming  the 
outline  of  the  worm,  it  is  too  late,  and  the  worm 
is  at  once  chilled,  and  perishes. 

Eggs  should  be  packed  in  layers  of  wadding  to 
keep  the  eggs  from  pressing  too  heavily  on  each 
other.  They  should  be  put  in  a  tin  or  sheet-iron 
or  even  wooden  box,- and  covered  closely,  having 
a  laye^  of  wadding  on  the  top,  inside  the  cover. 
The  box  containing  the  eggs  should  be  placed  in 
another  box  about  three  inches  larger^  all  round. 
The  space  between  the  two  boxes  should  be  filled 
with  some  woolen  material  to  reject  the  dampness 
if  the  storage  be  in  a  moist  place.  When  the  box 
is  opened  to  take  out  eggs  for  hatching,  it  should 
never  be  removed  to  a  warmer  room.  The  eggs 
should  be  taken  out  as  quickly  as  possible  and  the 
box  again  closed  up.  By  observing  the  foregoing 
instruction,  the  fact  of  producing  silkworms  is 
completely  under  human  control,  and  can  be 
done  at  any  time  and  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  47 


COCOONERY. 

A  cocoonery  should  always  be  built  on  a  slight 
elevation  of  ground,  so  that  in  time  of  rain  the 
water  will  not  settle  round  the  building.  All 
things  considered,  a  good  wooden  building  is 
quite  good  enough  for  California.  The  ends  of 
the  building  should  be  to  the  east  and  west,  so 
that  the  sun  will  not  strike  with  fullest  force  in 
hot  summer  weather. 

It  is  better  to  have  a  cocoonery  rest  on  posts 
two  or  three  feet  from  the  ground,  to  give  free 
circulation,  as  also  to  keep  off  all  kinds  of 
insects.  The  posts  should  be  daubed  with  tar  or 
some  other  substance  to  prevent  insects  from 
climbing  into  the  building. 

SIZE    AND    STYLE    OF   COCOONERY. 

To  accommodate  the  product  of  three  ounces 
of  silk-eggs  (i.  e.,  120,000  worms)  will  require  a 
building  forty  by  fifty  feet,  twelve  feet  between 
floor  and  ceiling.  The  roof  should  be  as  sloping 
as  the  width  of  the  building  will  admit.  The 
floor  should  be  double,  because,  standing  upon 
posts,  it  will  thus  maintain  a  more  even  temper- 
ature. The  walls  and  ceiling  should  be  lined 
with  wood.  Smooth  or  planed  boards  are  best, 


48  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

as  they  will  not  retain  dust.  There  should  be 
three  ventilators,  twelve  by  twelve  inches,  in  the 
ceiling,  one  over  each  aisle.  These  should  be  of 
fine  wire,  to  keep  out  insects,  and  should  be  so 
fixed  that  a  board  may  fall  over  them  when 
necessary  to  keep  off  the  draft.  There  should 
also  be  two  ventilators  in  the  roof,  with  wire 
screens  to  use  at  will,  and  yet  so  arranged  as  to 
keep  out  both  rain  and  fog. 

It  is  advisable  to  have  a  trap-door  in  some 
part  of  the  ceiling,  so  that  one  can  get  up  in  the 
garret  if  necessary.  There  should  be  three  win- 
dows on  each  side  of  the  building,  at  equal  dis- 
tance from  the  ends  and  from  each  other.  Also, 
two  windows  in  each  end,  one  on  either  side  of 
the  vestibule,  which  should  be  in  the  center. 
This  should  be  about  five  by  six  feet,  with  an 
outside  and  inside  door.  The  upper  half  of  each 
door  should  be  glass.  The  utility  of  these  vesti- 
bules is  to  keep  off  sudden  gusts  of  air  from  the 
worms  when  the  doors  are  opened. 

Have  wire  screens  from  top  to  bottom  of  all 
the  windows,  which  should  open  both  above  and 
below.  There  should  also  be  either  inside  slat- 
shutters,  or  paper  blinds,  to  adjust  the  light. 

A  single  board  partition  should  divide  the 
building  into  two  rooms.  The  smaller  on  the 
east  end,  fifteen  by  forty  feet;  the  larger,  thirty- 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  49 

five  by  forty  feet.  The  large  room  may  have  a 
five-foot  aisle  all  across  each  end,  and  four 
double  racks,  each  one  five  feet  wide  and  twenty- 
five  feet  long.  There  should  be  three  aisles,  each 
three  feet  wide,  between  the  double  racks.  These 
spaces  leave  room  to  draw  out  the  trays  from  the 
racks  when  the  worms  are  being  attended  to. 

There  is  a  space  of  five  and  a  half  feet  on 
either  side  of  the  racks  between  them  and  the 
wall.  In  this  space  two  single  racks  may  be 
placed  on  either  side  of  the  room,  leaving  the 
opposite  diagonal  corners  for  two  tables,  which 
will  be  found  necessary  for  various  kinds  of 
work.  The  single  racks  should  be  two  and  a 
half  feet  deep  and  six  feet  long,  so  they  will  take 
in  but  three  trays  across,  instead  of  four.  They 
should  be  seven  feet  high,  the  same  as  the  others. 

SMALL    ROOM. 

This  room  should  have  a  door  in  the  center  of 
the  partition  dividing  it  from  the  large  room. 
There  should  be  a  transom  over  the  door.  From 
the  southeast  end  of  the  room,  there  should  be 
partitioned  off  a  room  ten  by  fifteen  feet.  The 
partition  need  be  but  seven  feet  high.  On  the 
northeast  end  have  a  dark  closet,  fifteen  feet 
against  the  inner  wall  and  seven  feet  on  the  out- 


50  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

side  wall.  This  may  be  seven  feet  high,  and  the 
top  covered  with  lattice-work,  so  that  when 
necessary  it  can  be  made  perfectly  dark  by 
spreading  cloth  or  papers  over  the  lattice.  Let 
the  door  be  half  glass.  Have  shelves  about  two 
feet  deep  all  round,  except  at  the  door,  and  all 
the  way  up  and  down,  within  a  foot  of  the  floor. 
These  should  be  of  light  lumber.  This  will  serve 
as  a  laying-room  for  millers,  also  for  storing  eggs 
till  they  are  put  in  cold-storage,  and  for  various 
other  purposes. 

The  other  small  room  will  be  required  for 
leaves,  to  store,  so  as  to  have  them  always  ready. 
In  this  room  there  should  be  a  hydrant  and  a 
tank,  or  bath-tub,  in  which  to  wash  the  leaves 
when  they  happen  to  be  dusty.  Great  care  must 
be  taken  not  to  let  dampness  rest,  so  as  to  vitiate 
the  air. 

In  the  other  part  of  the  small  room  have  a 
single  rack  like  those  in  the  large  room.  Instead 
of  trays,  have  shelves,  as  in  the  dark  closet.  A 
few  chairs  or  camp-stools  will  be  required  at 
times  in  both  rooms. 

Everything  connected  with  the  cocoonery  must 
be  kept  as  clean  and  free  from  all  odors  as  it  is 
possible.  The  floors  had  better  be  oiled  or 
painted,  so  that  they  will  dry  quickly  when 
mopped.  They  never  should  be  allowed  to  get 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  51 

very  dusty,  as  dust  is  not  wholesome  for  the  silk- 
worms. 

Unless  hot-air  pipes  can  be  provided,  oil-stoves 
will  do  for  heating,  but  they  must  be  a  kind  that 
will  not  give  off  any  odor.  When  the  air  seems 
too  dry,  a  vessel  of  water  should  be  placed  on 
the  stove. 

FURNITURE    OF    COCOONERY. 

The  cocoonery  should  be  fumigated  every  week 
by  burning  eucalyptus  leaves.  All  the  ventila- 
tors should  be  opened  in  three  minutes  to  let  the 
smoke  escape.  This  process  purifies  the  atmos- 
phere. 

Have  four  double  racks  five  feet  deep  and 
twenty- five  feet  long.  These  are  for  the  large 
room.  An  aisle  three  feet  wide  should  pass 
through  the  center  of  the  room,  between  the  two 
middle  racks.  Another  aisle  the  same  width 
should  separate  each  of  the  other  double  racks. 
In  these  aisles  the  stretchers  may  be  placed  to 
attend  to  the  worms. 

In  the  wider  spaces  at  either  side  of  the  room, 
two  single  racks  can  be  placed  between  the  win- 
dows, also  two  common  tables,  that  will  often  be 
needed.  Six  or  eight  stretchers  will  be  found 
useful  for  many  purposes,  especially  to  lay  trays 
on  when  working  with  the  worms  or  millers. 


52  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

Lumber  Required  for  Racks  and  Trays  for  the 
Large  Room. 

One  single  rack  will  require  — 

28  feet  of  scantling,  3x3  inches.  This  is  for 
four  posts. 

70  feet  for  ten  upright  stays,  1x2  inches. 

35  feet,  2x3  inches,  for  the  sides  and  ends  of 
the  top  of  the  rack. 

360  feet  of  slats,  1  x  \  inch. 

460  feet  of  lathing  for  36  trays. 

In  computing  for  the  lumber,  get  enough  for 
four  double  racks  and  four  single  ones  for  the 
large  room,  and  one  for  the  small  room,  and 
enough  lathing  and  burlap  for  720  trays,  24x30 
inches,  and  twelve  one  half  as  large,  to  be  covered 
with  white  goods,  same  as  used  to  cover  the 
canopies.  Also,  get  shelving  for  closet  of  small 
room  and  rack-shelves. 

To  Put  the  Rack  Together. 

Fasten  the  four  posts  to  the  two  top  pieces 
which  are  12^  feet  long,  also  the  ten  stays  a  little 
more  than  24  inches  apart.  Then  put  the  two 
sides  of  the  rack  together  by  fastening  the  end 
pieces  to  the  sides.  Next  fasten  in  the  slides  14 
inches  apart.  This  will  leave  space  enough  be- 
tween the  trays,  at  least  till  the  last  age.  It 
may  be  that  the  branches  are  too  large  then.  If 
so,  take  out  every  alternate  tray. 


REARING    SILKW 


TRAYS. 


Make  the  trays  24  inches  wide  and  30  inches 
long,  with  two  slats  across,  to  keep  them  from 
sagging.  Cover  with  a  medium  quality  of  bur- 
lap.  Draw  it  very  tightly  over  the  tray  and 
fasten  with  tacks  on  the  sides,  so  that  it  will 
slide  in  and  out  smoothly.  In  putting  the  racks 
together,  there  must  be.  room  enough  left  for  the 
trays  to  slip  in  and  out  readily,  as  the  worms 
must  never  be  shaken  up  or  jerked  about  more 
than  is  absolutely  necessary.  It  will  be  found 
that  the  posts  and  uprights,  when  held  together 
by  so  many  slats,  make  the  racks  quite  strong 
enough. 

Some  prefer  larger  trays,  and  would  have  the 
trays  doubled.  But,  all  things  considered,  I 
prefer  the  size  indicated,  for  many  reasons.  They 
are  more  easily  handled  at  all  times,  and  espe- 
cially when  the  worms  are  in  the  two  last  ages. 
When  they  are  ready  to  spin,  these  trays  just  fit 
the  canopies,  and  when  in  the  canopies  they  have 
more  room,  or,  rather,  there  are  not  so  many 
under  one  cover.  When  spinning,  the  worms 
should  have  plenty  of  fresh  air.  The  material 
necessary  for  the  canopies  is  described  under  the 
heading,  "Arrangements  for  Spinning." 

Two  canopies  will  afford  room  enough  for  three 


54  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

trays  of  worms  to  spin,  or  even  four,  provided  the 
trays  are  not  very  full.  If  the  worms  are  large 
and  fine,  as  they  always  ought  to  be,  100  to  125 
is  quite  enough  for  a  tray. 

What  I  have  termed  " stretchers"  are  made 
something  like  bamboo  music-racks  or  holders. 
Slats  one  by  one  half  inch,  and  three  feet  long, 
are  crossed  for  the  legs.  A  round  piece  about 
three  quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter  and  three 
feet  long  holds  the  cross-pieces  together  in  the 
center.  Two  pieces  at  the  top  of  the  legs,  the 
same  length  as  the  round  center-piece,  hold  the 
sides  or  frame  firmly.  In  these  there  should  be 
holes  one  quarter  inch,  one  in  each  cross-piece, 
six  inches  from  the  end.  These  will  hold  cords 
stretched  from  one  to  the  other.  Leave  the  cords 
long  enough  so  that  the  stretcher  can  be  adjusted 
high  or  low,  as  is  required.  These  will  hold 
canopies  at  any  time  after  the  worms  have 
mounted  to  spin,  if  the  racks  be  over-crowded. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  55 


TO   PRESERVE   SILKWORMS. 

In  this  advanced  age,  it  is  quite  desirable  to 
have  cases  of  preserved  silkworms,  as  well  as 
other  insects,  for  exhibition  and  demonstration 
in  schools  and  colleges.  As  a  rule,  this  art  is 
neither  known  nor  practiced  by  silk-culturists. 
It  seems  too  small  an  item  of  business  to  claim 
their  attention  from  the  greater  and  more  pleas- 
ing work  pertaining  to  the  insect  menagerie. 
However,  this  work  may  be  done  by  any  person 
whose  taste  and  ambition  run  on  scientific  lines. 
I  will  therefore  give  a  formula,  which,  if  strictly 
followed,  will  insure  success  in  this  branch  of 
science. 

Get  a  bottle  of  hydroformalin  at  the  druggist's. 
Have  a  two-quart  bottle  of  distilled  rain-water. 
Take  ninety-six  per  cent  of  water  and  four  per  cent 
of  the  formalin.  Let  it  be  thoroughly  mixed.  Then 
take  five  pint  or  quart  fruit-jars,  according  to  the 
number  of  worms  you  desire  to  handle.  Have 
the  jars  half  or  two-thirds  full  of  the  medicated 
water  and  drop  the  worms  in,  each  age  in  a  sepa- 
rate jar.  The  chrysalis  may  be  put  with  worms 
of  the  fifth  age.  They  will  not  suffer  long. 
Whenever  the  water  becomes  discolored,  pour  off, 
and  put  in  fresh  liquid  from  the  large  bottle. 


56  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

When  it  remains  perfectly  clear,  the  worms  are 
preserved.     This  will  require  several  days. 

After  the  worms  are  dead,  and  before  they  get 
hard  and  stiff,  they  should  be  carefully  taken 
out  with  nippers  onto  a  glass  slab  or  plate  and 
straightened  out,  and  it  is  best  then  to  inflate 
with  a  hypodermic  syringe,  using  some  of  the 
same  fluid  the  worms-  are  in.  This  process  will 
enlarge  the  worms,  as  well  as  harden  the  internal 
organs.  The  syringe  may  be  inserted  in  the 
anus,  but  great  care  must  be  taken  not  to 
puncture  the  internal  organs.  After  this  is  done, 
they  should  be  at  once  put  back  into  the  fluid. 

ARRANGEMENT    FOR    A    CASE. 

To  prepare  worms  for  a  case  for  exhibition, 
have  ready  as  many  sets  of  bottles  (five  consti- 
tutes a  full  set)  as  you  require.  The  bottles 
should  be  such  as  are  used  by  naturalists, — i.  e., 
without  necks.  The  largest  should  be  4^  inches 
long,  the  others  gradually  receding  in  length  to 
the  smallest,  If  inches.  The  corks  must  always 
be  the  best,  and  not  more  than  a  half-inch  deep. 
A  very  appropriate  finish  for  the  cork  is  made  by 
splitting  cocoons  in  several  layers.  Then  cut 
circles  just  the  size  of  the  corks,  and  glue  them 
onto  the  corks.  Put  one  worm  of  the  fifth  age  in 
the  largest  bottle,  and  one  of  the  fourth  age  in 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  57 

the  next-sized.  Then  in  the  next-sized  bottle  put 
two  of  the  third  age,  and  in  the  two  next  sizes 
put  several  of  the  first  and  second  ages.  Put  two 
chrysalises  in  one  of  the  large  bottles.  There 
should  be  ready  a  neat  wooden  box  lined  and 
padded  on  the  bottom.  Any  kind  of  nice  goods, 
not  woolen,  will  answer.  The  bottles  should  be 
arranged  from  left  to  right,  beginning  with  the 
first  age  and  ending  with  the  chrysalis.  They 
should  be  fastened  to  the  bottom  of  the  box,  either 
with  glue  or  some  other  fastening. 

TO    DISSECT    WORMS. 

Take  three  worms  in  the  fifth  age,  —  one  about 
the  middle  of  the  age,  one  two  days  from  spin- 
ning, and  one  all  ready  to  spin.  Drop  them  into 
a  pint  jar  of  the  same  liquid  as  for  the  other 
worms.  Let  them  remain  a  few  hours  or  all 
night.  Take  out  one  at  a  time  onto  a  glass  slab 
or  plate,  using  the  nippers.  Lay  the  worm  on 
its  back.  Take  sharp-pointed  scissors,  and  cut 
the  worm  open  on  the  under  side,  the  entire 
length  of  the  body,  taking  great  care  not  to 
pierce  any  of  the  internal  organs.  Have  a  shal- 
low dish  about  two  inches  deep  filled  with  pure 
distilled  water.  Plunge  the  worm  into  this  dish, 
and  float  out  the  entire  contents  of  the  body  into 
the  water  (you  may  have  to  use  the  nippers,  but 


58  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

very  gently),  and  yon  will  then  see  the  silk-ducts 
in  longitudinal  folds  on  either  side  of  the  worm. 
Be  very  careful  not  to  break  away  the  upper 
ends  of  the  tubes  from  the  spinnerets  in  the  head 
of  the  worm,  where  they  terminate.  The  middle 
of  the  duct  is  about  one  eighth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  tapers  down  at  both  ends  till  it  is 
as  fine  as  a  thread  of  fine  silk.  The  upper  ends 
terminate  in  the  spinnerets,  and  the  lower  ends 
pass  over  the  entire  inner  surface  of  the  body  in 
folds  and  coils,  while  they  imbibe  the  silk-fluid 
as  it  is  distilled  from  the  mulberry  leaves  by  the 
action  of  nature's  unerring  machine,  —  the  body 
of  the  silkworm. 

On  either  side  are  seen  those  same  eight  little 
round  black  spots  that  are  seen  on  the  outside, 
and  which  serve  as  breathing-pores.  From  each 
of  these  radiate  fine  black  thread-like  tubes  all 
over  the  side  for  some  distance  from  the  center 
spot.  These  carry  the  air  to  the  body,  and  keep 
it  in  constant  circulation,  vitalizing  or  vitiating 
the  whole  system  of  the  worm  as  the  air  is  pure 
or  impure  in  which  the  worm  rests  while  doing 
its  important  work. 

If  the  worm  dissected  be  within  two  days  of 
spinning,  the  long  straight  duct  that,  during  life, 
may  be  seen  passing  up  and  down  the  whole 
length  of  the  body,  on  the  back,  may  now  be 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  59 

seen  more  plainly  as  a  long  narrow  duct  filled 
with  food  in  process  of  digestion. 

If  the  worm  is  ready  to  spin,  this  duct  will  be 
empty,  and  appear  the  same  color  as  the  other 
parts  of  the  body  of  the  worm. 

The  youngest  of  the  three  worms  dissected  in 
the  same  way  will  show  a  less  proportion  of  silk 
in  the  ducts  and  a  greater  proportion  of  food  in 
the  body.  There  will  be  found  adhering  to  the 
inside  of  the  skin  a  seemingly  fatty  substance, 
according  to  the  breed  of  worm  and  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  food  administered.  This  will  be 
more  or  less  in  quantity.  In  this  substance  of 
the  worm  the  fine  ramifications  of  the  silk-ducts 
lie  imbedded. 

After  the  worms  have  become  hardened  in  the 
formalin,  they  may  be  opened,  and  then  it  will 
be  seen  that  all  the  organs  have  become  almost 
ossified.  The  ducts  will  be  very  brittle,  but  they 
may  be  put  in  separate  bottles  for  observation. 
Also,  the  ducts  of  those  dissected  before  harden- 
ing may  be  kept  and  shown  to  better  advantage. 


60  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 


MOUNTING   MILLERS. 

In  order  to  have  millers  perfect  when  mounted, 
it  is  necessary  to  prepare  them  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble after  they  have  accomplished  their  life's 
work,  —  by  coupling,  and  the  female  depositing 
her  eggs.  Have  ready  a  quart  fruit-jar,  or  a 
perfectly  close  wooden  or  tin  box.  Tie  up  in  a 
rag  a  piece  of  iodide  of  potassium,  and  put  it  in 
the  box  or  jar.  It  is  well  to  have  the  least  moist- 
ure on  it,  so  that  it  may  give  off  odor.  Drop  the 
millers  into  the  box  or  jar.  They  will  not  live 
an  hour.  There  is  another  way,  which  seems 
more  cruel,  but  does  not  let  them  live  so  long  to 
suffer.  Select  the  millers  always  in  pairs,  male 
and  female.  Have  those  you  want  to  operate  on 
in  a  box  convenient.  Take  one  at  a  time.  Have 
the  hypodermic  syringe  ready  and  filled  with  the 
medicated  water  used  for  the  worms.  Place  the 
miller  on  a  piece  of  pasteboard,  and  hold  it  in 
place  by  pressing  on  it  very  lightly  with  one 
finger  of  the  left  hand.  Take  the  syringe  in  the 
right  hand,  and  inject  a  few  drops  of  the  fluid, 
inserting  the  needle  in  the  anus.  Lay  it  aside, 
and  take  another  and  treat  it  in  the  same  man- 
ner, and  so  on  till  all  are  operated  on.  By  that 
time  the  first  will  be  dead,  if  directions  have 
been  followed.  It  is  best  to  handle  with  the 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  61 

nippers,  when  it  can  be  done,  as  the  down  or 
feathers  of  the  millers  should  be  preserved  whole 
as  much  as  possible.  If  you  take  those  from  the 
potassium,  take  them  out  with  nippers  one  by 
one  as  you  operate,  and  inject  a  drop  or  two  of 
the  liquid.  Have  some  sterilized  cotton  conve- 
nient, so  as  to  absorb  any  moisture  that  may  come 
from  the  millers. 

Have  ready  as  many  mounting-cases  as  you 
have  millers.  They  are  made  as  described.  For 
ten  millers  take  ten  pieces  of  heavy  pasteboard 
or  very  light  wood,  2x2^  inches.  Have  a  piece 
of  very  smooth  slat  42  inches  long  and  1  x  \  inch 
wide.  Saw  this  up  into  twenty  two-inch  pieces. 
Tack  two  of  these  pieces  on  the  pasteboards,  on 
either  side,  so  that  there  will  be  a  groove  of  one 
half-inch  in  the  center  between  the  side-pieces. 
Tack  them  on  the  short  way  of  the  pieces.  Into 
this  groove  the  body  of  the  miller  fits  so  as  to 
leave  the  wings  horizontal  with  the  body.  This 
is  the  proper  way  to  mount  the  silk-miller. 

Put  a  little  sterilized  cotton  in  the  groove. 
Have  library  paste  at  hand.  Take  a  piece  of 
tarlatan,  and  cut  strips  a  little  more  than  an 
inch  wide  and  about  three  inches  long.  Fasten 
one  end  of  the  strip  to  the  left  side  of  the  case, 
on  the  upper  end.  Then  take  up  the  miller 
and  arrange  it  in  the  groove,  with  the  wings 
extending  horizontally  as  far  as  possible,  and  in 


62  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

line  with  the  top  of  the  case,  and  on  a  level  with 
the  body  of  the  miller.  Then  bring  the  tarlatan 
over  the  left  wing  tightly.  (Do  not  drag  it  over.) 
Then  hold  it  down  with  one  finger  while  you 
pass  it  over,  and  fasten  down  with  paste  the 
other  end  of  the  tarlatan.  Arrange  the  right 
wing  in  the  same  way.  See  that  the  body  is  per- 
fectly straight  and  natural.  Arrange  the  head  so 
that  the  feelers  will  be  in  line  with  the  wings  and 
yet  in  the  proper  curve.  Take  fine  nippers  and 
draw  the  feet  out  so  that  at  least  two  may  be 
seen  more,  if  possible.  If  the  wings  have  slipped 
out  of  place,  take  a  fine  needle,  and  through  the 
tarlatan  put  them  in  place,  and  then  hold  them 
there  by  sticking  a  naturalist's  pin  through  the 
upper  part  of  the  wing,  fastening  it  to  the  case. 

All  this  work  requires  the  greatest  exactness 
and  care.  When  everything  has  been  done  as 
directed,  lay  away  the  little  cases  in  a  shallow 
box  or  on  a  large  pasteboard  to  dry.  This  will 
require  a  month  or  six  weeks.  Put  some  moth- 
balls in  amongst  the  cases,  and  beware  of  ants, 
mice,  or  rats,  for  they  will,  if  possible,  get  at  them 
and  utterly  destroy  them. 

The  cocoonery  should  always  be  provided  with 
a  thermometer  and  barometer.  A  dish  of  salt 
will  in  some  measure  answer  the  place  of  a 
barometer,  as  if  the  salt  shows  much  moisture, 
the  air  should  be  dried. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  63 


MULBERRY   TREES. 

The  foundation  of  silk-production  is  the  mul- 
berry tree,  as  from  it  is  developed  the  best 
quality,  as  well  as  the  greatest  quantity,  of  silk, 
in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  labor  expended. 

There  are  many  varieties  of  the  mulberry. 
Each  kind  produces  a  quality  of  silk  correspond- 
ing to  the  quality  of  leaf-food  coming  from  the 
tree.  Some  yield  a  very  coarse  silk,  and  others 
an  exceedingly  fine  quality.  Some  yield  a  larger 
quantity  of  silk  to  the  pound  of  leaves,  than 
others. ,  But  all  varieties  of  the  mulberry  yield 
more  and  better  silk  to  the  quantity  of  leaves, 
than  any  other  plant  or  tree,  so  far  as  yet  known 
to  silk-cult  urists. 

Silkworms  require  food  containing  four  sub- 
stances;  viz.,  fibrous,  resinous,  saccharine,  and 
watery.  Th^  fibrous  JiolcU-tJhe  leaves  intact 
while  the  worins~are  feeding;  the  saccharine  and 
watery  substances  nourish,  the  worm;  and  the 
resinous  substance  yields  the  silk. 

In  proportion  as  these"  substances  are  con- 
tained in  the  leaf-food,  they  are  valuable. 

The  white  mulberry,  in  all  its  varieties,  is 
considered  the  best  silk-producer.  Its  principal 
varieties  are  the  Morus  Japonica,  Morus  alba, 


64  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

Morus  Morettij  Morus  rosa,  Morus  alba  proper, 
and  the  Morus  multicaulis. 

The  Morus  Japonica  is  generally  cultivated  in 
silk  countries,  as  it  yields  more  silk  to  the  pound 
of  leaves,  than  any  other,  giving  one  pound  of 
cocoons  to  every  twelve  pounds  of  leaves.  It 
leaves  out  early  in  the  spring,  grows  rapidly, 
and  retains  its  foliage  late  in  the  autumn.  The 
leaves  are  large  and  heavy.  It  is  easy  to  propa- 
gate it  from  cuttings.  The  fruit  is  of  little  con- 
sequence. But  few  berries  attain  perfection,  as 
they  fall  off  before  ripening. 

The  Morus  Moretti  grows  tall  and  straight.  It 
has  abundant  foliage,  but  yields  only  one  pound 
of  cocoons  to  every  fourteen  pounds  of  leaves. 
The  leaves  are  not  very  large,  and  are  thin 
and  oval  in  shape.  They  are  smooth  on  both 
upper  and  lower  surface.  This  tree  is  largely 
cultivated  along  the  Alps  —  in  the  south  of 
France,  and  in  Italy.  It  makes  a  beautiful 
ornamental  tree. 

The  Morus  rosa  has  a  leaf  shaped  like  the  rose 
leaf,  and  very  shiny.  The  branches  extend  more 
laterally  than  most  varieties.  It  bears  some 
fruit,  of  a  pinkish  tint,  not  of  any  commercial 
value.  Some  silk-growers  prefer  this  tree,  as  it 
does  not  contain  so  much  of  the  watery  sub- 
stance as  many  others.  The  leaves  better  sus- 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  65 

tain  the  worm.  It  does  not  grow  so  rapidly  as 
others,  and  is  slow  to  send  out  new  branches 
when  pruned.  It  yields  about  one  pound  of 
cocoons  to  fourteen  pounds  of  leaves. 

The  Morus  alba  proper  is  the  stock  from  which 
the  Japonic&t  rosa,  and  Morctti  have  been  pro- 
duced by  cutting  and  grafting.  In  all  the  silk- 
growing  countries  of  Europe  it  is  considered  a 
standard  tree.  It  yields  one  pound  of  cocoons 
to  every  fourteen  to  sixteen  pounds  of  leaves. 

The  Morus  multicaulis  is  a  native  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.  The  leaves  are  very  large.  It 
grows  very  rapidly,  and  sends  out  a  multitude 
of  branches,  but  it  requires  eighteen  pounds  of 
leaves  to  make  one  pound  of  cocoons.  As  it 
leaves  out  early  in  the  spring-time,  the  leaves  do 
very  nicely  for  the  first  two  ages  of  the  silkworm. 

The  Morus  nigra,  or  Persian  mulberry,  is  a 
fine  hardy  tree,  that  will  thrive  even  in  a  cold 
climate.  It  flourishes  greatly  in  southern  Cali- 
fornia. It  bears  rich,  large  black  fruit,  valuable 
as  a  marketable  product.  The  leaves  are  of 
medium  size,  coarse  as  the  grape  leaf,  which 
they  resemble.  They  are  dark  green  on  the 
upper  side,  and  covered  on  the  under  side  with  a 
kind  of  white  down.  In  Asiatic  countries  they 
feed  this  leaf  to  silkworms  as  a  medicine.  In 
California  it  has  proved  a  valuable  food  all 


Db  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

through  the  fifth  age.  Worms  develop  more 
rapidly  when  fed  on  the  leaves  of  this  tree;  and 
the  silk  made  from  it  seems  stronger  and  coarser 
than  that  from  any  of  those  mentioned.  It  is 
very  advisable  to  have  a  good  proportion  of  these 
trees  in  every  mulberry  orchard. 

Within  the  past  thirty  years  many  varieties  of 
mulberry  trees  have  been  imported  into  Cali- 
fornia. Some  of  these  varieties,  through  long 
neglect  and  want  of  cultivation,  have  sadly 
degenerated,  and  now  are  not  good  food  for  the 
silkworm.  Notably  of  this  class  is  a  species  of 
black,  which  has  a  smooth,  dark  green  leaf,  that 
seems  quite  oily  as  picked  from  the  tree.  Worms 
refuse  to  eat  this  when  they  can  get  anything  else. 

The  weeping  mulberry  is  of  little  value  as  a 
silk-pro&ucer,  and  Downing's  Everbearing  is  no 
better.  They  both  bear  fruit  abundantly,  but 
the  leaves  are  very  thin,  and  have  not  much  of 
silk-substance  in  them. 

**  Most  of  the  trees  mentioned  will  grow  readily 
from  cuttings.  Some  will  attain  a  growth  of  ten 
feet  in  a  single  season.  Cuttings  may  be  put  in 
the  ground  every  month  in  the  year  in  southern 
California.  During  the  later  months  of  the  year 
they  will  not  grow  so  rapidly,  but  they  will  take 
root  and  grow,  if  properly  cared  for,  and  watered 
so  that  the  ground  will  always  be  moist  above 
where  the  slip  ends.  If  the  soil  gets  dry  above 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  67 

that  point,  the  sap,  or  life,  becomes  dry,  and  the 
cutting  will  surely  die.  It  is  better  to  propagate 
mulberry  trees  by  cuttings,  than  from  seed,  as  ' 
they  come  into  use  much  sooner.  One  pound  of 
seed  will  give  out  five  thousand  trees,  but  it  will 
be  two  or  three  years  before  the  leaves  should  be 
picked  for  feeding. 

Last  of  all  trees  named  for  silk-production, 
and  yet  best  of  all,  is  the  "CATTANEO"  mulberry, 
which  is  a  native  of  Italy.  This  tree  has  been 
acknowledged  by  scientists  interested  in  silk- 
culture  to  be  the  best,  because  it  contains  the 
most  nutriment,  and  is  best  adapted  to  develop 
the  silk-glands  of  the  worm.  Also,  it  is  said  to 
grow  very  much  more  rapidly;  yet  it  requires  no 
better  soil,  nor  any  more  care,  than  other  trees. 
It  is  largely  used  in  most  of  the  European,  as 
well  as  in  the  Asiatic,  silk-growing  countries. 
Many  thousands  of  these  trees  were  imported 
into  California  when  the  silk  business  attracted 
so  much  attention  in  this  state.  It  is  said  that 
a  Cattaneo  mulberry  tree  eight  years  old  will 
yield  as  many  leaves  as  one  of  the  common 
species  at  forty  years  of  age.  It  is  also  known 
that  this  tree  does  not  require  to  be  grafted,  and 
therefore  the  leaves  may  be  taken  from  it  the 
first  year  after  planting. 

There  are  three  ways  of  planting  the  mulberry 
tree. 


68  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

1.  As  a  forest  tree,  when  ninety  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  trees  may  be  planted  to  the  acre, 
and  the  trees  be  allowed  to  grow  tall,  as  well  as 
to  branch  out  laterally.     This  style  of  planting 
involves  more  labor  in  gathering  the  leaves,  than 
any  other. 

2.  Trees  may  be  planted  as  a  mulberry  grove, 
when  twelve  hundred  trees  may  be  put  on  one 
acre.     In  this  style  the  trees  are  never  allowed 
to  grow  tall,  nor  have  they  room  to  spread  very 
far,  as  the  branches  are  constantly  clipped  off, 
giving  room  for  others,  and  still  others,  to  take 
the  places  of  those  cut  off.     In  this  case  it  is 
much  easier  to  get  at  the  leaves,  nor  are  they  so 
liable  to  be  battered  by  the  wind. 

The  Chinese  never  let  their  trees  grow  more 
than  three  years,  as  they  constantly  replace  the 
old  with  new  slips,  and  dig  up  the  old. 

The  third  style  is  the  mulberry  hedge.  This 
is  an  especially  good  way  for  early  spring  feed- 
ing, as  the  leaves  come  out  earlier,  and  are 
better  sheltered  from  the  winds  by  the  multitude 
of  branches. 

CULTIVATION. 

Whatever  the  order  of  planting,  all  mulberries 
should  be  well  and  regularly  cultivated,  fertilized 
occasionally,  and  irrigated  when  the  soil  de- 
mands it. 

A  loose,  sandy  soil  is  best  for  the  mulberry  of 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  69 

all  kinds.  But  even  this  is  not  enough.  Atten- 
tion should  be  given  to  the  soil,  and  what  the 
soil  most  lacks  should  be  supplied  in  the  kind  of 
fertilizer  used.  All  the  waste  from  the  cocoon- 
eries makes  an  excellent  fertilizer. 

Aside  from  and  in  addition  to  the  regular 
mulberry  orchard,  many  trees  can  be  put  in  odd 
places  round  the  barn-yards,  and  in  the  corners 
of  the  fences  by  the  roadside.  Every  mulberry 
tree  planted  in  southern  California  should  be 
made  to  verify  the  name  given  to  the  tree  cen- 
turies ago  by  the  Chinese;  viz,  the  "Golden  tree." 
Yes;  every  tree  represents  money, -as  well  as 
pleasure. 

PRUNING. 

The  pruning  of  the  mulberry  tree  is  a  very 
important  item  in  the  production  of  silk.  There 
is  as  great  a  difference  in  style  and  manner  of 
pruning  the  several  kinds  of  trees  as  there  is  in 
their  general  appearance.  However,  all  kinds 
should  be  kept  at  all  times  in  as  symmetrical 
shape  as  possible.  The  Japonica,  for  instance, 
will  bear  to  be  pruned  from  three  to  six  times  a 
year,  while  the  rosa,  being  more  slow  of  growth, 
cannot  be  made  to  give  out  so  many  crops  of 
leaves.  Pruning  and  picking  leaves  so  nearly 
represent  the  same  work,  that  they  may  be 
treated  under  the  same  heading. 

There  is  nothing  more  detrimental  to  the  best 


70  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

results  from  any  mulberry  tree,  than  to  pick  off 
the  leaves  and  leave  the  long  branchlets  bare  of 
foliage,  except  the  young,  tender  leaves  at  the 
extreme  end.  When  this  is  done,  the  strength  of 
the  tree  goes  to  wood-fiber,  and  the  limb  con- 
tinues to  grow  in  length,  and  to  send  put  leaves 
at  the  extreme  end,  while  the  spaces  between  the 
leaf-joints  become  longer  and  longer,  and  the 
leaves  at  the  end  are  less  and  less  in  size  and 
more  inferior  in  quality.  This  should  be  avoided 
in  all  orchards;  as  the  closer  together  the  leaves 
grow,  the  better.  They  are  less  liable  to  become 
battered  by  the  wind,  and  they  seem  to  shield  each 
other  from  the  scorching  rays  of  the  noonday  sun. 

The  better  way  is  to  cut  off  the  branchlets  just 
two  leaves  from  the  branch,  and  cut  off  the  two 
leaves  a  half-inch  from  the  leaf.  In  due  time 
new  buds  will  shoot  out  where  the  leaves  were; 
these  in  a  few  weeks  will  be  ready  to  be  treated 
in  the  same  way,  and  so  on  for  three  or  four 
times  during  the  season,  or  as  often  as  the  trees 
will  bear  picking  without  injury.  This  mode  of 
treatment  will  keep  the  trees  in  beautiful  shape 
all  the  time. 

It  is  not  advisable  to  take  off  more  than  half 
or  one  third  of  the  branchlets  at  one  time.  Take 
off  the  longest  branchlets  each  time,  and  keep 
on,  so  that  there  will  be  a  constant  supply  of 
leaves  for  the  continuous  hatchings  of  the  worms. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  71 

If  it  be  found  necessary  to  prune  trees  to  pre- 
vent them  growing  too  tall,  this  should  be  done 
in  the  fall  or  winter,  when  the  sap  is  down. 

When  it  is  found  advisable  to  have  leaves 
picked  in  advance  for  a  day  or  two,  it  is  quite 
necessary  to  spray  or  sprinkle  them  with  pure 
water.  A  whisk  dipped  in  water  lightly  will  do 
very  nicely.  (But  do  not  do  as  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese;  viz.,  take  a  mouthful  of  water  and 
spurt  it  out  on  the  leaves.)  Each  time  you 
sprinkle,  toss  up  the  leaves  from  the  bottom,  so 
that  all  may  come  in  contact  with  the  moisture. 
Then  cover  them  over  with  old  newspapers  or 
clean  cloths.  When  leaves  are  shipped  from  a 
distance,  they  should  be  ordered  in  clean  sacks, 
not  in  boxes.  They  should  be  picked  before 
sunrise,  and  put  up  before  the  coolness  of  the 
night  passes  off  from  them.  When  leaves  are 
heated,  after  picking  as  high  as  80°  F.,*they  are 
very  apt  to  engender  disease  in  the  worms.  From 
fourteen  hundred  to  eighteen  hundred  pounds  of 
leaves  will  feed  forty  thousand  worms  (one 
ounce  of  eggs)  through  all  the  ages. 

LEAVES.  —  HOW    TO    CARE    FOR    THEM. 

It  is  well  to  have  on  hand  at  all  times  enough 
leaves  to  feed  four  or  five  times^ 

It  will  not  do  at  any  time  to  feed  either  wet  or 
dusty  leaves,  and  it  is  much  better  not  to  feed 


72  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

them  wilted,  as  the  worms  crawl  over  them,  but 
do  not  like  to  eat  them.  If  the  leaves  are  dusty, 
the  branches  should  be  plunged  in  a  tank  or 
large  tub  of  clean  water,  and  then  shaken  so 
that  the  water  runs  off. 

Leaves  should  always  be  gathered  in  the 
morning,  before  the  sun's  rays  have  at  all  heated 
them.  There  is  more  sap  in  leaves  gathered  in 
the  morning,  and  they  are  therefore  much  better 
for  the  worms;  also,  they  keep  very  much  better. 
When  gathered,  they  should  be  at  once  taken  to 
the  room  where  they  are  to  be  stored,  and  shaken 
out  of  the  sacks  or  baskets  in  which  they  were 
gathered.  Tl^n  if  dry  (i.  e.,  not  moist  with 
dew),  they  should  be  sprinkled  lightly  with  pure 
water  and  tossed  up  with  the  hand.  A  clean 
whisk-broom  is  good  to  sprinkle  with.  If  the 
branches  are  very  long,  it  is  best  to  cut  them 
about  eighteen  inches,  as  they  will  fit  on  the 
trays  much  more  conveniently. 

It  is  never  best  to  pick  leaves  off  trees,  and 
leave  long,  bare  branchlets  with  a  few  leaf  buds 
at  the  extreme  end.  It  is  better  to  cut  off  the 
branch  two  buds  from  the  trunk  or  large  branch; 
these  two  or  three  leaves  may  be  taken  off.  In 
a  very  short  time  young  branchlets  will  come 
out,  and  grow  as  long  as  the  first,  with  fresh  and 
tender  leaves  all  along. 

The  following  table  will  give  .some  idea  of  the 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  73 

quantity  of  leaves  required  for  a  given  number 
of  worms  in  their  respective  ages. 

One  ounce  of  eggs  will  hatch  out  40,000  worms, 
and  will  require  — 

The  first      age,  4  days,      5  pounds  daily. 

The  second  age,  5  days,    10  pounds  daily. 

The  third     age,  5  days,    25  pounds  daih'. 

The  fourth  age,  5  days,    60  pounds  daily. 

The  fifth      age,  8  days,  150  pounds  daily. 

Average  quantity,  first  age,  16  to  20  daily. 

Average  quantity,  second  age,       50  daily. 

Average  quantity,  third     age,      125  daily. 

Average  quantity,  fourth  age,      300  dally. 

Average  quantity,  fifth      age,  1,200  daily. 

Total 1,695 

About  two  fifths  of  this  is  waste. 

This  amount  of  leaves  will  vary  according  to 
the  kind  of  leaves  supplied  and  the  care  taken  in 
feeding  them.  Old  worms,  or  those  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  age,  will  not  eat  the  young,  tender 
leaves,  that  alone  are  fit  to  feed  worms  in  the 
first  and  second  ages.  When  leaves  have  be- 
come crisp  or  brittle,  through  age,  they  are  not 
good  for  worms  of  any  age.  The  quota  of  silk 
from  such  leaves  is  very  small. 

The  motto  of  every  silk-grower  should  be,  "The 
best  of  everything."  Best  trees,  best  leaves,  best 
worms,  best  cocoons,  best  silk,  —  best  pay. 


74  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 


MISCELLANEOUS   NOTES   ON   SILK. 

Note  1. 

The  first  silk-mill  on  this  continent  was 
erected  in  1810,  in  Mansfield,  Connecticut.  Now 
there  are  over  nine  hundred  silk-mills  or  fac- 
tories in  the  United  States,  and  some  in  Canada. 

The  world's  silk-production  is  more  than 
11,706  tons  per  annum. 

Note  2. 

The  gold  and  silver  spider  are  both  found  in 
Rhodesia,  South  Africa. 

The  gold  spider  spins  its  web  (not  in  cocoon) 
of  golden  thread,  and  lets  it  float  from  the  trees. 
Sometimes  these  webs  are  twenty  feet  long;  they 
float  loosely,  glistening  in  the  sunshine,  till  they 
strike  other  branches.  Then  they  stretch  from 
branch  to  branch,  or  from  tree  to  tree,  making  a 
gorgeous  appearance  in  the  tropical  sun.  The 
fiber  of  this  web  is  of  great  fineness. 

The  silver  spider  spins  a  less  beautiful  web. 
It  is  spun  from  bush  to  bush,  or  from  one  tree  to 
another,  but  is  not  left  to  float  loosely.  It  is 
not  so  strong  as  the  golden  spider's  thread, 
though  very  beautiful. 

These  spiders  live  on  flies,  which  are  very 
abundant  in  that  country. 


HEARING    SILKWORMS.  75 

Note  3. 

A  farmer  of  Mitcham,  Australia,  has  discovered 
that  the  mulching  of  fruit  trees  with  eucalyptus 
leaves  is  a  sure  preventive  of  blight,  fungi,  and 
insect  pests.  He  says  he  has  trees  so  treated, 
w-hich  are  entirely  free  from  pests,  while  others 
close-by,  not  so  treated,  are  almost  worthless. 
It  might  be^well  to  use  some  around  mulberry 
trees  to  prevent  any  insects. 

Hundreds  of  years  ago,  and  ever  since,  the 
mulberry  tree  is  spoken  of  as  being  always  free 
from  indigenous  pests  of  all  kinds.  But  experi- 
ence has  shown  that  if  they  are  in  close  prox- 
imity to  trees  covered  with  scale,  the  scale  will 
be  carried  either  by  the  wind  or  by  insects,  and 
will  rest  on  the  mulberry. 

It  is  best,  therefore,  not  to  have  scale-breeding 
trees  near  the  mulberry  grove.  It  is  well  to 
have  a  eucalyptus  hedge  round  each  grove.  The 
leaves  can  then  be  used  for  mulching  and  for 
fumigating  the  cocooneries. 

Note  4^ 

WEIGHTED    SILKS. 

Sometimes  ninety  per  cent  of  the  material 
(i.  e.,  silk  goods)  is  of  foreign  substance.  At  the 
present  day  the  practice  of  "weighting"  silks  by 
means  of  astringent  extracts,  salts  of  tin,  silicate, 


76  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

and  phosphate  of  soda,  and  a  variety  of  other 
substances,  all  more  or  less  injurious  to  the 
wear  of  the  fabric,  has  reached  such  a  height,  that 
it  is  seriously  affecting  the  trade.  This  is 
especially  the  case  as  regards  black  silks,  but 
fabrics  of  other  colors  suffer  in  the  same  manner. 

It  used  to  be  said  that  a  silk  dress  or  a  silk 
handkerchief  would  last  a  lifetime,  and  this  is 
almost  true  where  one  can  obtain  the  pure  silk. 
But  in  much  of  the  fabric  sold  as  silk  at  the 
present  day  there  is  not  more  than  ten  to  twelve 
per  cent  of  real  pure  silk,  all  the  rest  being 
extraneous  matter  applied  to  the  fiber  in  the 
deceptive  process  of  "weighting." 

Pure  silk,  when  burned,  leaves  a  quantity  of 
ash,  which  is  always  considered  less  than  one 
per  cent,  but  the  ash  left  by  some  weighted  silks 
has  been  found  to  amount  to  as  much  as  forty- 
eight  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the  fabric. 

The  extraneous  substances  to  which  we  have 
alluded  are  caused  to  adhere  to  the  fiber  by 
passing  the  skeins  of  silk  through  hot  baths  of 
tannin,  extracts  of  tin,  salts,  salts  of  iron,  anti- 
mony, potash,  etc.,  and  it  has  been  found  that 
when  a  silk  heavily  charged  with  such  sub- 
stances is  heated,  it  will  not  burn  with  flame, 
but  will  only  smolder  away,  leaving  a  very  large 
amount  of  ash  behind. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  77 

But  these  weighted  silks  are,  however,  of  so 
combustible  a  nature,  that  some  have  been 
known  to  take  fire  spontaneously,  —  a  result  due 
to  the  gradual  decomposition  of  the  substances 
used  for  weighting,  —  and  disastrous  fires  have 
been  traced  to  this  cause.  Spontaneous  combus- 
tion is  liable  to  break  out,  —  more  especially  in 
black  silks,  that  are  stored  in  warm,  dry  places. 

Note  5. 

A  very  curious  silk  industry  is  carried  on  in 
Spain  since  the  people  became  too  indolent  and 
careless  to  manufacture  silk  into  fabrics.  The 
process  is  called  gut-making,  and  is  described  as 
follows:  When  silkworms  are  all  ready  to  spin, 
they  take  them,  and  with  a  sharp  instrument  cut 
off  both  ends.  Then  they  deftly  take  out  both 
silk-tubes,  —  described  fully  under  another  head- 
ing in  this  book,  —  and  stretch  them  to  the 
fullest  extent,  —  or  at  least  several  feet  in  length, 
according  as  the  worm  is  fine  and  vigorous,  or 
puny  from  being  ill  fed.  They  are  handled  very 
carefully  as  they  are  unfolded  from  the  convolu- 
tions in  which  they  were  by  nature  arranged  in 
the  body  of  the  worm.  They  are  then  passed 
through  several  chemical  processes  or  prepara- 
tions, that  serve  to  cleanse  and  strengthen  them. 
They  are  then  dried  and  tied  together  in  bundles. 


78  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

This  treatment  of  the  silk  gland  or  tube  of  the 
silkworm  leaves  a  strong,  fine,  elastic  filament, 
which  is  almost  invisible  in  water.  This  is  why 
it  is  so  desirable  as  a  fishing-line  attachment. 
This  little  ending  of  the  fishing-line  is  what  is 
called  the  gut-leader.  A  short  piece  of  this  is 
fastened  on  the  extreme  end  of  the  line.  Some- 
times it  is  so  fastened  as  to  leave  both  ends  free, 
on  which  to  fasten  two  hooks.  When  the  line  is 
thrown  out  into  the  water,  the  gut  is  almost 
invisible,  and  the  fishes  see  only  the  bait  on  the 
hook.  This  they  bite,  and  are  at  once  taken. 
The  strength  of  the  gut  is  quite  sufficient  to  hold 
even  two  fish  such  as  are  caught  with  hook  and 
line.  Most  of  the  silkworms  now  raised  in  Spain 
are  treated  in  this  way.  The  gut  when  prepared 
in  this  manner  is  peddled  through  the  streets  of 
the  cities. 

The  silk-gut  is  also  used  in  another  way. 
When  it  has  been  sterilized,  it  is  used  in  sur- 
gery, as  a  suture  to  unite  either  bones  or 
muscles.  It  may  be  left  in  the  wound  till  the 
absorbents  of  the  system  carry  it  off,  as  there  is 
not  the  slightest  danger  of  blood-poison. 

Note  6. 

The  most  advanced  nations  in  silk-culture  do 
most  to  foster  the  silk  industry  among  their 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  79 

people  a  knowledge  of  the  insect  to  which  they 
owe  so  much  of  their  national  wealth.  In  both 
France  and  Italy,  it  is  a  part  of  the  education  of 
young  ladies.  They  are  taught  all  the  details  of 
the  production  of  silk,  from  the  egg  to  the  reeled 
silk.  There  it  is  considered  a  most  healthful 
and  refreshing  change,  to  pass  from  the  study  of 
books  to  behold  living  nature  in  her  strange  and 
wonderful  changes,  —  from  apparently  repeated 
deaths  to  larger  and  still  larger  spheres  of  life 
and  activity. 

It  is  a  constantly  demonstrated  fact  that 
nothing  is  more  important  as  the  basis  of  a  solid 
education,  than  strict  attention  to  little  things. 
For  this  reason,  if  nothing  else,  is  the  education 
in  the  silk  industry  of  great  use  to  the  young. 
The  United  States  is  almost  the  only  nation 
where  large  manufactures  are  carried  on,  where 
there  is  not  one  or  more  schools  of  instruction  in 
this  special  branch  of  industry,  supported  by  the 
government.  The  art  of  silkworm-rearing  is 
wholly  neglected  in  the  system  of  education  in 
our  beloved  land,  while  we  have  the  most 
superior  advantages  for  the  production  of  silk. 
This  is  the  groundwork  of  the  lack  of  interest  in 
the  entire  business. 

France  leads  the  world  in  the  superior  style  of 
her  textile  manufactures.  This  fact  is  said  to 


80  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION   IN 

be  largely  owing  to  the  education  of  the  children 
in  practical  schools  of  learning.  Lessons  in  the 
every-day  life  of  nature  are  demonstrated  to 
them,  as  well  as  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences  that 
are  brought  into  use  in  working  one's  way 
through  the  busy  marts  of  life. 

Our  manual-training  schools  are  a  step  in 
advance,  which  gives  room  to  hope  that  these 
schools  will  be  still  further  enlarged  in  all  that 
may  better  qualify  the  young  to  arm  themselves 
to  go  through  life  well  fitted  for  all  that  may 
come  to  them  on  its  changeful  battle-fields. 

Note  7. 

"In  1899,  the  earliest  spinning  of  silk-cocoons' 
was  taken  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  March 
28,  by  Mrs.  Carrie  Williams,  who  there  exhibited 
as  fine  large  and  firm  cocoons  as  can  be  found  at 
any  season  of  the  year.  These  cocoons  were 
spun  by  worms  hatched  in  February  and  ma- 
tured in  March,  in  a  temperature  varying  from 
44°  to  75°  F.  The  worms  were  from  3-J  to  4 
inches  long,  and  in  the  most  perfect  health. 
The  only  difference  low  and  uneven  temperature 
seems  to  make  is,  that  it  prolongs  the  life  to 
about  forty  days,  instead  of  thirty.  Hundreds 
of  other  worms,  just  as  fine,  will  be  spinning  in  a 
few  days,  and  may  be  seen  by  those  interested. 
Also,  worms  of  all  ages." — San  Diego  Union. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  .       81 

Note  8. 

Many  unreliable  statements  are  made  by  a 
great  variety  of  writers  in  regard  to  the  profits 
to  be  derived  from  the  silk  industry;  also,  con- 
cerning the  nature,  care,  feeding,  size,  length  of 
life,  etc.  I  give  below  an  example  of  this  exag- 
gerated style  of  writing,  from  the  Student's 
Cyclopedia,  page  1203:  — 

"  .  .  .  Silkworms  are  one  quarter  of  an  inch 
at  first,  and  three  inches  when  ready  to  spin, 
which  is  about  eight  weeks.  .  .  .  One  ounce  of 
eggs  will  produce  one  hundred  pounds  of  cocoons, 
which  will  yield  one  pound  of  silk.  About 
twenty-two  million  pounds  of  silk  is  produced 
in  the  world  annually." 

Actual  experience  shows  that,  as  a  rule,  silk- 
worms are  not  more  than  one  eighth  to  three 
eighths  of  an  inch  when  first  hatched  from  the 
shells.  Some  especially  fine  worms  may  be 
three  eighths  of  an  inch.  When  ready  to  spin, 
unless  they  have  been  very  sadly  neglected  as  to 
food,  they  are  3j  to  4  inches  long,  and  the  life- 
time is  from  25  to  32  days. 

Statistics  on  textile  production  show  that  more 
than  thirty-five  million  pounds  of  raw  silk  are 
produced  in  the  world  annually. 

One  ounce  of  eggs  will  yield  from  35,000  to 


82  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

40,000  silkworms,  and  these  will  spin  175  to  200 
pounds  of  dry  cocoons.  Ten  to  twelve  pounds  of 
these  cocoons  will,  when  fresh,  give  off  one  pound 
of  silk.  When  dry,  it  will  require  2  to  3|  pounds. 
So  we  see  from  an  absolute  knowledge  of  facts, 
that  instead  of  one  ounce  of  silk-eggs  yielding 
but  one  pound  of  silk,  they  will  give  sixteen  to 
twenty-two  pounds. 

It  seems  a  pity  that  such  erroneous  statements 
should  find  place  in  books  that  are  read  by  the 
young,  as  they  give  false  ideas  of  the  great  possi- 
bilities of  our  great  and  growing  industries. 

Note  9. 

On  the  authority  of  Mr.  Frank  Cheney,  presi- 
dent of  the  Silk  Manufacturers'  Association  of 
the  United  States,  I  give  the  following  state- 
ment: "One  pound  of  reeled  silk  will  make 
from  five  to  fifty  yards  of  silk  goods."  (jpee_&e- 
vlsion  of  the  Tajjff,  for  A.J^189Q,j^e_6Q6. ) 

The  fifty  yards  would,  of  course,  be  very  light 
gauzes;  the  five  yards  would  be  the  heaviest 
drapery.  Ten  to  twelve  yards  of  gros-grain  can 
be  made  from  one  pound,  so  that  it  is  safe  to 
state  that  a  very  good  silk  dress  can  be  made 
from  one  pound  of  reeled  silk. 

Note  10. 

History  of  Product  of  One  Miller  in  1895 
(June).  —  One  miller  laid  more  than  four  hun- 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  83 

dred  eggs,  and  these  hatched  out  more  than  four 
hundred  perfect  worms,  that  spun  over  four 
hundred  perfect  cocoons.  From  these  cocoons  I 
selected  150,  —  75  males  and  75  females.  They 
(the  millers)  were  duly  coupled  after  emerging 
from  their  cocoons.  The  females  laid,  as  nearly 
as  I  could  estimate,  twenty  thousand  eggs,  which 
I  sold  for  two  dollars. 

If  the  whole  brood  had  been  left  for  breeding, 
the  cash  returns  would  have  been  nearly  six 
dollars  from  one  pair. 

Note  10. 

Some  cocoons  raised  at  Point  Loma,  San  Diego 
County,  in  A.  D.  1901,  reeled  off  1,176  yards  of 
silk  fiber  to  the  cocoon. 

Note  11. 

Two  and  a  half  pounds  of  raw  silk  will  make 
480  spools  of  No.  A  silk,  at  5  cents  each;  that 
would  be  $24.  At  10  cents  each,  of  course, 
double  that,  or  $48. 

One  acre  of  good  mulberry  grove  will  produce 
about  70  to  110  pounds  of  reeled  silk.  Made 
into  spools  at  the  above  price,  it  would  bring 
$2,640. 

Note  12. 

Our  United  States  cocoons  measure  more  than 
any  foreign  cocoons  yet  recorded. 


84  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 


DISEASES   OF   SILKWORMS. 

Much  might  be  said  of  the  diseases  of  silk- 
worms, —  the  cause  and  cure.  But  $3  the  United 
States  have  never  yet  been  afflicted  in  this  partic- 
ular way,  it  is  deemed  best  to  pass  the  subject 
lightly  over,  merely  noting  a  few  facts. 

Within  the  last  half-century,  almost  every 
country  where  silkworms  are  reared  has  been 
afflicted  with  a  most  terrible  disease,  so  that  it 
was  feared,  at  one  time,  that  the  silk  industry 
would  be  entirely  swept  from  the  face  of  the 
earth.  The  French  government  took  great  inter- 
est in  this  subject,  and  appointed  Pasteur,  one 
of  the  ablest  scientists  of  his  day,  to  investigate 
the  cause,  and,  if  possible,  recommend  a  cure. 
He  was  allowed  by  the  government  every  possi- 
ble facility  to  prosecute  his  work,  and  he  was 
also  ably  assisted  by  other  scientists,  who  might 
be  named,  —  Professor  Lebert,  De  Osinio  of  Italy, 
Frederick  Haberlandt,  Emilio  Cama,  and  others; 
while,  later  on,  Colonel  Charles  Brady,  of  Sydney, 
New  South  Wales,  by  patient,  persistent  study 
and  labor,  through  many  years  of  experiment, 
at  last  overcame  the  diseases  and  developed 
some  of  the  finest  breeds  of  silkworms  that  have 
ever  been  known  to  the  civilized  world. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  85 

It  was  all  very  well,  and  we  would  not  detract 
one  iota  from  the  honor  justly  due  to  these  noble 
scientists,  but  we  deem  it  most  advisable  to  ward 
off  disease  of  all  kinds,  which  can  assuredly  be 
done  by  proper  care  and  judicious  management. 
Again  I  would  reiterate  what  so  often  has  been 
said  :  To  avoid  all  manner  of  disease.  Provide 
suitable  quarters  and  ample  room.  Feed  abun- 
dantly and  regularly,  with  wholesome  food. 
Never  give  either  wet  or  dusty  leaves.  Keep  the 
temperature  even,  —  75°  to  80°  F.,  night  and 
day.  Then  there  will  be  no  need  of  expending 
large  sums  for  the  services  of  scientists  to  explain 
the  cause  and  recommend  the  cure  of  any  fatal 
disease. 

The  most  malignant  disease  referred  to  above 
is  pebrin.  This  first  appeared  in  1840,  at  Pro- 
vinza.  It  continued  to  spread  throughout 
Europe  and  Asia  for  more  than  twenty  years. 
Upon  scientific  investigation  this  disease  proved 
to  be  a  parasite,  that  lodged  in  all  parts  of  the 
worm,  even  in  the  blood  and  alimentary  canal. 
It  was  also  found  in  the  miller,  in  the  wings,  the 
feet,  and  even  in  the  eyes,  and  also  in  the  sub- 
stance of  the  egg,  and  attached  to  the  shell.  It 
was  also  in  the  chrysalis.  These  parasites 
preyed  on  all  parts  of  the  living  silkworm,  in  all 
ages  and  stages,  and  wasted  their  lives  so  as  to 


Ob  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

render  them  absolutely  worthless  as  to  the  pur- 
pose of  their  creation.  The  worst  feature  of  this 
malady  was  the  difficulty  in  destroying  the  pests. 
Neither  alcohol  nor  acids  would  affect  them  in 
the  least,  and  it  was  proved  that  they  would  live 
for  years  in  water,  and  become  active  as  soon  as 
removed  from  the  water.  If  they  were  thrown 
out  to  decay  and  waste,  the  germs  would  so 
contaminate  leaves,  if  at  all  near  them,  that  at 
once  the  dread  disease  would  be  transmitted  to 
new  fields  to  prey  upon  new  subjects.  So  that 
it  was  clearly  proved  that  the  only  mode  of 
ending  this  dreadful  disease  was  by  fire;  to  burn 
up  everything  that  might  in  any  way  have  been 
tainted  or  contaminated  by  it. 

Worms  affected  by  this  disease  were  observed 
to  grow  unequally,  to  become  languid  and  lose 
appetite,  and  often  spots  would  appear  on  the 
skin.  This  disease,  like  all  others,  was  more 
manifest  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  ages,  than 
the  earlier  ages. 

Another  silkworm  disease  is  "grasserie,"  or 
jaundice.  In  this  the  worms  become  very  yellow, 
get  soft  and  limp,  and  then  finally  die. 

Another  disease  is  called  "  muscardine."  This 
sometimes  proves  very  destructive.  The  worms 
become  languid,  and  suddenly  die,  and  in  a 
short  time  become  stiff  and  discolored.  If  they 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  87 

are  laid  away  (out  of  the  cocoonery),  in  about 
twenty-four  hours  a  white  powder  soon  shows 
itself,  and  covers  the  body  all  over.  No  outward 
sign  tells  of  the  approach  of  this  disease. 

Worms  fed  with  stale,  wet,  or  musty  leaves 
are  apt  to  turn  dark  green  on  the  back  of  the 
thorax.  They  become  stiff,  and  do  not  like  to 
move.  It  is  best  to  put  such  on  another  tray, 
and  let  them  rest  till  the  natural  action  of  the 
system  works  off.  Sometimes  they  will  vomit 
freely;  sometimes  riot  at  all.  If  they  are  but 
slightly  affected,  they  will  rest  till  the  food  in 
the  body  has  nearly  all  passed  from  them,  and 
then  they  should  be  fed  lightly  at  first,  and  then 
as  usual.  If  there  be  no  passages  or  vomit,  it 
shows  that  the  leaves  were  too  much  diseased, 
and  the  worms  are  not  strong  enough  to  throw 
off  the  effect  of  the  poison  imbibed,  and  they  had 
better  be  destroyed.  A  strong  solution  of  salt 
and  water  takes  the  life  much  quicker  than  clear 
water.  But,  after  death,  all  worms  should  be 
destroyed  by  fire,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
transmitting  disease. 


88  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 


SILK   IN   CHINA. 

In  looking  back  over  the  world's  history,  we 
find  that  so  little  is  known  by  the  general  public 
regarding  this  the  third  great  textile  industry  of 
the  world,  that  it  is  deemed  best  here  to  give  a 
very  brief  outline  of  its  rise,  growth,  and  present 
status. 

The  silk  industry  originated  in  China.  Old 
traditions  mention  it  as  far  back  as  2700  B.  C. 
In  those  early  days  the  royal  household  cared 
for  the  silkworms  and  made  silk  into  fabrics. 
Reference  is  made  by  Chinese  poets  to  the  silk- 
worm and  the  mulberry  tree  as  early  as  1000 
years  B.  C.  For  centuries  it  was  deemed  a 
capital  offense  to  export  eggs,  or  even  let  it  be 
known  how  these  gorgeous  robes  were  obtained. 

From  China,  sericulture  gradually  spread  to 
Persia,  and  finally  to  Europe.  About  A.  D.  530, 
two  monks  went  over  from  Turkey  to  China,  as 
missionaries;  and  during  their  labors  carefully 
noted  how  the  Chinese  cared  for  the  silkworm, 
as  well  as  how  they  handled  the  frail  threads  of 
silk  composing  the  cocoons.  They  managed  to 
secure  a  quantity  of  silk-eggs,  put  them  into 
hollow  canes,  and  using  these  as  walking-canes, 
they  walked  out  of  China,  carrying  with  them 


BEARING    SILKWORMS.  89 

the  great  national  secret.  They  went  direct  to 
Constantinople,  and  presented  their  canes  with 
their  valuable  contents  to  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tine. 

As  early  as  the  twelfth,  century,  silk-weaving 
was  a  recognized  industry  in  England.  The  silk 
then  used  was  obtained  from  Syria,  in  cloth. 
These  faBrics  were  unraveled,  and  the  .silk  shreds 
rewoven  with  other  materials.  It  is  said  they 
were  more  beautiful  than  at  the  first.  This 
practice  is  mentioned  by  Aristotle. 

When  cotton  was  introduced  from  India,  about 
A.  D.  1260,  owing  to  its  cheapness,  it  iff  a  great 
measure  superseded  silk,  which  had  been  a 
flourishing  industry  for  four  thousand  years. 
In  1644,  the  silk  industry  had  retained  only 
enough  activity  to  supply  local  demands  and  the 
government  requirements.  However,  intercourse 
with  other  nations  has  revived  the  silk  industry 
in  China,  so  that  at  the  present  time  silk  is 
produced  in  every  province.  The  best  silk  comes 
from  Che  Kiang,  especially  from  its  northwest 
corner.  But  even  this  does  not  equal  Italian  or 
French  silk.  Some  full-grown  trees  will  yield 
seventy  tp^one  hundred  pounds  of  leaves.  But, 
as  a  rule,  the  Chinese  do  not  allow  the  mulberry 
tree  to  grow  more  than  five  or  six  feet  high. 
They  live  for  fifty  years  in  China.  In  some 


90  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION   IN 

European  countries  there  are  many  mulberry 
trees  three  hundred  years  old. 

The  Chinese  are  very  systematic  about  the 
pruning  of  their  trees.  LWhen  the  young  trees 
are  planted,  they  are  set  five  or  six  feet  apart, 
and  cut  down  to  eighteen  inches  above-ground. 
When  the  new  shoots  appear,  they  are  all  cut 
off,  except  two.  Each  year,  the  wood  of  the 
previous  year  is  cut  off  in  feeding  the  worms. 
Only  two  buds  are  left  on  each  stem  from  year 
to  year.  This  style  of  cutting  and  pruning 
gradually  gives  the  tree  the  shape  of  an  umbrella. 

The  Chinese  continue  to  reel  and  weave  as 
they  did  thousands  of  years  ago. 

There  are  about  two  hundred  looms  employed 
in  weaving  silk  and  velvet  for  the  imperial 
household.  In  A.  D.  1889,  on  account  of  the 
Emperor's  marriage,  there  were  three  million 
dollars7  worth  of  silk  goods  manufactured.  The 
kind  of  silk  made  for  royalty  is  forbidden  to 
all  other  classes  of  citizens.  Those  who  weave 
for  the  royalty  of  China  get  higher  wages  than 
other  weavers.  Women  and  girls  who  weave 
ribbons  get  eight  to  ten  cents  a  day,  with  board 
(boiled  rice).  Men  get  fifteen  to  twenty  cents  a 
day,  and  the  same  board. 

.There  are  two  principal  kinds  of  silk  manu- 
factured in  China.  The  "lingr"  which  has  a  thin 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  91 

glossy  surface;  and  the  "hung,"  which  means  an 
imperial  fabric.  In  making  these  silks,  there 
are  three  or  four  men  employed  on  each  loom, 
and  their  united  labor  only  turns  out  twelve  to 
sixteen  feet  of  silk  a  day.  The  best  silk  sells  for 
sixty  to  ninety  cents  a  yard. 

Raw  silk  is  made  from  worms  fed  on  a  mixture 
of  wild  and  tame  mulberry  leaves,  — eight  parts 
of  wild  i  nd  two  of  tame.  This  kind  of  silk  is 
also  used  for  'the  woof  of  pongee  silk  and  satin. 

At  Nankin  there  are  seven  or  eight  thousand 
looms  employed  in  making  satin.  These  are  the 
richest  satins  woven  in  China.  It  is  a  kind  of 
damask  interwoven  with  a  thread  of  gold. 

Like  all  other  works  of  art  in  China,  the 
weaving  of  silk  is  an  individual  matter,  as  a 
rule.  Each  one  spins  and  weaves  and  dyes  his 
own  silks.  Hence  there  is  little  division  of  labor, 
and  little  opportunity  to  invest  capital  in  manu- 
factories. However,  there  are  several  filatures 
in  China,  where  foreign  machinery  is  employed 
in  reeling  and  weaving  silks. 

In  China,  silk  is  a  common  article  of  attire, 
and  both  sexes  take  pride  in  arraying  themselves 
in  gorgeous  robes  of  gay  colors.  The  actual 
amount  of  silk  used  in  China  seems  to  be  beyond 
computation.  It  is  safely  estimated  that  more 
than  double  the  quantity  of  silk  is  used  at  home 
that  there  is  exported. 


92  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

In  A.  D.  1890  there  was  exported  from  China 
alone  about  21,123,600  pounds  of  silk.  Double 
this  amount  would  be  42,247,200  pounds.  This 
would  allow  a  fraction  more  than  two  ounces  of 
silk  to  each  of  the  300,000,000  inhabitants  of  the 
Celestial  Empire. 

REARING    SILKWORMS    IN    CHINA. 

The  Chinese  have  ten  general  rules  for  the 
rearing  of  silkworms. 

1.  The  eggs  while  on  paper  must  be  kept  cool. 

2.  When  the  worms  hatch  out,  they  must  be 
kept  warm. 

3.  When  molting,  they  must  be  left  without 
food. 

4.  During   the   intervals   between    the    molts, 
they  must  be  well  supplied  with  food. 

5.  They  must  not  be  placed  too  close  together, 
nor  too  far  apart. 

6.  During  their   sleeps   they   should  be  kept 
dark    and   warm;    after    they    have    cast    their 
skins,  cool,  with  plenty  of  light. 

8.  For  a  little  time  after  molting  they  should 
be  sparsely  fed.    When  they  are  full  grown,  they 
should  never  be  without  fresh  food. 

9.  Their   eggs  should  be  laid  close  together, 
but  not  heaped  upon  one  another. 

10.  Wet,    withered,    or    dusty    leaves    should 
never  be  given  to  silkworms  in  any  age. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  93 

In  the  province  of  Canton  there  are  two  special 
kinds  of  worms.  One  kind  hatches  once  a  year; 
the  other  kind,  seven  times  a  year. 

The  Chinese  have  many  foolish  superstitions 
about  silkworms,  which  are  not  worth  mention- 
ing. They  weigh  the  worms  in  their  last  sleep, 
and  estimate  that  1  pound  of  worms  will  eat 
about  15  pounds  of  leaves,  and  spin  \\  pounds 
of  silk. 

The  health  of  the  worms  is  indicated  by  their 
manner  of  eating  and  general  appearance.  If 
they  eat  ravenously,  they  are  well,  also  if  the 
skin  be  full  and  shiny.  When  the  joints  look 
bluish  or  greenish,  or  the  worms  look  a  dead 
white,  they  should  be  destroyed. 

Leaves  must  never  be  over-heated  after  pick- 
ing. 

The  best  and  most  healthy  worms  are  hatched 
about  the  middle  of  April,  and  mature  in  twenty- 
seven  days.  The  worms  are  put  to  spin  in 
bundles  of  straw,  on  mats,  about  one  hundred  in 
each  bundle.  When  taken  out,  the  best  and 
cleanest  are  reserved  for  the  finest  silk. 

A  skillful  Chinese  can  reel  by  hand  from  one 
pound  ten  ounces  to  one  pound  fourteen  ounces 
a  day. 


94  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 


SILK   IN   JAPAN. 

It  is  not  generally  known  when  silk  was  first 
introduced  into  Japan.  But  since  early  in  the 
fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era  the  people  of 
Japan  have  been  enthusiastic  workers  in  the 
production  and  manufacture  of  silk.  It  is 
recorded  of  them,  that  the  government  at  one 
time  had  to  enact  restraining  laws,  lest  other 
branches  of  industry  be  wholly  neglected.  The 
further  planting  of  the  mulberry  was  forbidden, 
and  the  use  of  silk  goods  was  confined  to  certain 
classes  of  society. 

A  kindly,  patient,  intelligent  people,  the 
Japanese  seem  especially  adapted  to  manage  the 
silkworm.  And  no  people  ever  reaped  more 
substantial  reward  for  their  manipulation  of  this 
business  than  they  did,  when  the  terrible  silk- 
worm disease  almost  wiped  out  the  entire  silk 
industry  in  Europe  and  Asia,  some  years  ago. 
At  that  time  one  of  the  largest  ocean  steamers, 
the  Delhi,  was  chartered  to  convey  from  Japan, 
to  Europe,  a  full  cargo  of  silk-eggs,  the  insured 
value  of  which  was  over  half  a  million  pounds 
sterling  ($2,500,000). 

For  some  years  Japan  exported  annually 
$4,701,400  worth  of  eggs  alone,  besides  large 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  95 

quantities  of  reeled  and  raw  silk.  These  large 
profits  were  the  result  of  the  annual  silkworm, 
as  Japan  does  not  raise  more  than  one  or  two 
crops  of  silk  a  year.  The  Japanese  .white  silk  is 
the  finest  silk  in  the  world.  As  a  people,  they 
have  vastly  improved  their  machinery  within 
the  past  forty  years.  Their  treatment  of  the 
silkworm  is  more  scientific  than  that  of  the 
Chinese,  as  they  are  more  advanced  in  all  the 
arts  and  sciences  of  the  age. 

They  have  to  be  very  careful  of  the  silkworms, 
and  protect  them  from  currents  of  the  outside 
atmosphere,  as  the  climate  is  very  changeful, 
and  at  times  severely  cold. 

The  Japanese  prune  their  trees  very  closely 
every  year.  They  propagate  largely  by  layer- 
ing,—  i.  e.,  they  lay  down  branches,  or  long 
shoots  from  the  main  body  of  the  tree,  then 
cover  them  with  the  soil.  They  soon  take  root, 
and  shoot  up  sprouts,  which  are  in  due  time 
transplanted  and  given  more  room. 

Besides  silk  in  all  conditions,  —  from  the 
waste  silk  to  the  finished  fabric,  —  the  Japanese 
export  mulberry  trees  of  the  best  kind. 

When  the  winter  weather  has  really  set  in, 
those  who  are  engaged  in  the  propagation  of  eggs 
take  them  and  immerse  them  in  water  just  down 
to  the  freezing-point,  where  they  let  them  remain 


96  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

a  short  time,  then  let  them  drain  off,  and  finally 
dry  them  thoroughly  before  packing  them  away 
for  the  coming  season.  This  may  be  their 
method  of  weeding  out  all  the  delicate  seed. 


SILK   IN   HUNGARY. 

In  Hungary,  the  government  provides  for  the 
reeling  of  cocoons.  They  buy  the  cocoons  from 
the  producers,  for  two  thirds  of  the  market 
value,  because  they  furnish  them  with  the  eggs 
and  the  leaves.  The  government  owns  large 
plantations  of  mulberry  trees,  and  forbids  the 
sale  of  eggs. 

Other  European  countries  raise  more  or  less 
silk,  both  for  home  use  and  exportation,  but  we 
have  not  space  here  to  enter  into  detail  of  any 
but  the  most  important: 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  97 


SILK   IN   FRANCE. 

During  the  thirteenth  century  an  attempt  was 
made  to  introduce  the  silk  industry  into  France. 
But  little  progress  was  made  until  about  1521, 
when  King  Henry  IV.  encouraged  the  industry, 
and  the  people  engaged  in  the  planting  and  care 
of  the  white  mulberry  tree.  It  is  recorded  that 
the  first  mulberry  tree  planted  at  that  time  is  still 
growing. 

The  industry  was  still  further  encouraged  by 
Louis  XIV.;  and  both  the  production  and  manu- 
facture of  the  new  fabric  increased  in  value  till 
the  Revolution,  during  the  eighteenth  century. 
This  upturning  of  the  nation's  industrial,  social, 
and  religious  life  nearly  obliterated  the  silk 
industry. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  proved  a  benefactor  to 
the  French  people,  in  that  he  greatly  encouraged 
the  silk  business,  and  again  it  was  on  the  road 
to  prosperity,  when,  in  A.  D.  1850,  the  dreadful 
disease  so  contagious  swept  over  Europe  as  does 
a  plague,  and  almost  wiped  out  the  silk  business 
of  the  world.  Again  the  government  of  France 
rose  to  the  aid  of  her  people,  and  appointed  the 
noted  scientist  Pasteur  to  search  out  and  apply 
remedies  for  the  stay  of  the  fearful  disease.  His 


98  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

system  was  based  on  very  exact  microscopical 
examination  of  the  eggs  and  the  millers.  This 
system  proved  to  be  a  very  expensive  addition 
to  the  silk  business. 

Signore  Surani,  of  Milan,  Italy,  was  the  first 
to  put  this  system  on  a  commercial  basis.  He 
had  the  largest  establishment  in  the  world.  He 
employed  3,000  hands  during  the  coupling  season, 
and  750  scientists  for  the  critical  examination  of 
the  eggs  and  millers  with  the  most  perfect  instru- 
ments. 

None  of  these  expenses  need  ever  be  incurred 
in  the  United  States,  because  with  our  salubrious 
climate,  and  our  continuous  supplies  of  the  best 
of  foods,  it  is  quite  needless  that  disease  should 
ever  be  allowed  to  even  appear  in  our  beloved 
land. 

Silk-manufacture  is  carried  on  to  a  very  high 
degree  of  perfection  in  Lyons  and  other  large 
cities  of  France;  but  the  United  States  are  fast 
overtaking  them,  both  in  style  and  quality  of 
silk  weaves. 

The  production  of  silk  has  been  on  the  decrease 
in  France  for  a  number  of  years.  Disease  still 
lingers  in  the  agricultural  districts,  and  proves 
very  discouraging  to  the  peasantry. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  99 


SILK   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN. 

From  the  time  of  Edward  III.  until  the  year 
1824,  the  English  government  sought  from  time 
to  time  to  promote  the  silk- weaving  industry* by 
acts  of  Parliament,  and  the  imposition  of  duties 
upon  manufactured  silks.  However,  these  acts 
did  not  tend  to  promote  the  silk  business  in 
England.  They  have  also  made  many  attempts 
to  produce  silkworms  in  England,  but  the  cool- 
ness and  almost  constant  humidity  of  the  climate 
forbid  its  success  from  time  to  time.  King 
James  II.,  in  A.  D.  1605,  spent  $4,675  in  planting 
mulberry  trees  round  his  palace.  He  offered 
packets^  of  mulberry  seed  to  any  who  would  sow 
them,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  silkworms.  This 
royal  patronage  rendered  the  tree  so  popular, 
that  to-day  in  many  private  gardens  in  England 
may  be  seen  mulberry  trees  planted  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  About  this  time,  one  hundred 
thousand  of  the  black  mulberry  species  were 
brought  over  from  France,  and  planted  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales. 

In  1669,  King  James  strongly  advocated  silk- 
production  in  his  kingdom,  but  with  little 
success.  This  same  monarch  ordered  the  plant- 
ing of  the  mulberry  in  the  American  colonies, 


100  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

and  sought  to  enforce  the  silk  industry  by  fines 
and  premiums.  The  Huguenots  brought  the 
culture  to  South  Carolina,  and  at  that  time  some 
silk  was  manufactured.  Some  of  these  old  trees 
are  said  to  be  still  living  in  South  Carolina, 
where  much  interest  is  now  being  manifested  in 
the  silk  industry. 

When,  in  1734,  the  South  Sea  Bubble  enlisted 
so  much  English  capital,  Oglethorpe  planted  the 
mulberry  in  Georgia,  and  in  due  time  he  pro- 
duced raw  silk,  and  sent  as  a  present  to  Queen 
Caroline  of  England  eight  pounds  of  his  silk. 
From  this  silk  Charles  II.  wore  a  robe  and  hose 
at  his  coronation. 

While  the  colonies  were  yet  under  British  rule, 
premiums  were  bestowed  and  penalties  inflicted, 
hoping  thereby  to  fix  the  silk  industry  in  the 
new  possessions,  for  the  treasury  of  England 
complained  of  the  enormous  drain  on  her 
exchequer  by  the  importation  of  raw  silk  to 
supply  her  numerous  silk  manufactories.  About 
this  time,  a  charter  was  granted  to  a  London 
company  to  take  African  negroes  to  the  colonies 
to  engage  in  the  cultivation  of  tobacco.  This 
act  of  the  government  killed  out  all  the  interest 
in  silk  that  had  been  awakened,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  the  silk  produced  in  the  colonies 
was  quoted  at  "two  shillings"  a  pound  more 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  101 

than  any  that  had  been  imported.  A  large 
filature  was  established  in  Savannah.  This  fact 
encouraged  many  women  to  continue  the  produc- 
tion of  silk;  but,  very  unfortunately,  this  was 
burned,  and  with  it  large  quantities  of  raw  and 
reeled  silk.  Soon  followed  the  Revolution.  The 
fearful  struggle  of  the  century,  when  the  colonies 
threw  off  the  yoke  of  the  "  mother  country,"  and 
being  but  young  and  poor,  their  first  inhabitants 
had  no  time  to  look  for  the  luxuries  of  life. 
Daily  bread  called  for  their  utmost  ambition, 
and  in  supplying  this  all  their  energies  were 
engrossed,  and  the  silkworm  and  its  work  were 
lost  sight  of,  and  almost  forgotten.  With  the 
peace  that  followed  the  Revolution,  came  the 
cotton-gin.  Cotton  and  slave-labor  combined  to 
keep  back  for  a  time  all  efforts  in  silk-production. 
In  1825,  "The  British,  Irish,  and  Colonial  Silk 
Company"  was  organized,  ^ith  a  capital  stock  of 
five  million  dollars,  to  introduce  silk-culture  into 
Ireland.  To  promote  the  interests  of  this  com- 
pany, the  celebrated  work  on  silk  and  silkworms, 
by  Dandola,  the  Italian  savant,  was  translated 
into  English.  This  company  failed  for  want  of 
practical  knowledge  of  the  necessary  require- 
ments of  the  silkworm.  They  understood  neither 
the  tree  nor  the  worms.^  Notwithstanding  the 
failure  of  this  large  company,  fine  silk  has  been 


102  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

produced  in  Britain,  and  the  loss  of  silkworms 
from  deaths  is  recorded  at  only  three  per  cent. 
Want  of  proper  management  has  been,  and  still 
is,  the  greatest  barrier  against  silk-culture.  It  is 
not  enough  to  know  simply  that  silkworms  eat 
mulberry  leaves,  and  in  due  time  convert  a 
portion  of  them  into  silk  fiber.  No.  The  leaves 
must  be  maintained  in  a  perfectly  healthy  condi- 
tion, and  administered  in  proper  way,  at  proper 
times. 

The  work  is  so  fascinating,  and  the  demand 
for  silk  so  fully  assured  in  all  civilized  countries, 
that  people  without  means  are  often  tempted  to 
begin  the  work,  when  they  have  not  sufficient 
capital  to  make  the  provision  that  is  necessary 
in  the  first  stages  of  this,  as  it  is  in  any,  business. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  103 


SILK-CULTURE   IN   ITALY. 

Silk  was  introduced  into  Italy  early  in  this 
century,  when  Florence  was  the  center  of  the 
manufacturing  interests. 

For  a  long  time  the  production,  as  well  as  the 
manufacture,  of  silkjhars  beeTi~the«hief  wealth  of 
Italy v  not  Qnly  of  the  people,  but  also  of  the  gov- 
ernment.. Realizing  the  importance  of  instruct- 
ing the  people  in  the  management  of  the  silkworm, 
that  they  might  by  intelligent  care  ward  off  dis- 
ease, in  1871  there  was  a  royal  decree  issued  to 
establish  an  experimental  station  at  Padua. 
The  Italian  government,  and  the  city  and  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  of  Padua,  bore  the  expense  of 
the  institution.  The  objects  of  the  station  are,— 

1.  To  study  the  raising   of   silkworms   under 
the   best   conditions,  and   experiment  with  the 
products  thereof. 

2.  To  study  the  feeding  of  silkworms,  by  means 
of  physiological  and  chemical  experiments. 

3.  To  study  the  diseases  of  the  silkworms,  and 
the  mulberry  tree. 

4.  To  produce  and  distribute  healthy  silkworm 
eggs  for  silk-growers. 

5.  To  experiment  with  new  varieties  of  eggs, 
as  well  as  with  other  articles  that  concern  the 
menagerie. 


104  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN" 

6.  To  undertake  all  such  studies  and  experi- 
ments as  might  be  useful  to  sericulture. 

7.  To  give  the  greatest  possible  publicity  to  all 
matters  connected  with  the  sericultural  industry 
in  the  kingdom  of  Italy. 

This  station  has  done  inestimable  service  for 
sericulture,  it  having  granted  (within  a  few  years) 
250  diplomas  to  pupils,  who  at  once  were  given 
places  in  sericultural  observatories,  where  their 
knowledge  was  freely  spread  among  silk-growers. 

In  all  countries  where  the  silk  business  has 
succeeded,  the  government  has  lent  its  aid,  as 
well  as  its  encouragement  in  various  ways. 

Florence,  Italy,  early  became  interested  in  the 
silk  business.  The  government,  seeing  this,  in 
order  to  insure  its  continued  success,  made  a  law, 
that  every  peasant  in  the  province  of  Tuscany 
should  plant  at  least  five  mulberry  trees  on  the 
land  he  cultivated. 

While  Italy  very  largely  produces  cocoons  and 
reeled  silk,  her  manufactured  silks  are  not  up  to 
the  standard  of  other  silk-producing  countries  of 
Europe;  yet  she  annually  exports  about  fifty  mil- 
lion dollars'  worth  of  silk  goods  of  various 
grades. 

Of  the  silk-eggs  used  in  Italy,  about  ninety-six 
per  cent  are  brought  from  Japan.  These  eggs 
cost  sixty  thousand  dollars  per  ton,  and  the  aver- 
age import  is  seventy  to  eighty  tons  per  annum. 


BEARING    SILKWORMS.  105 

Silk  is  the  most  valuable  product  of  Italy,  the 
annual  average  being  fifty  million  dollars'  worth. 
Lombardy  is  the  richest  province  of  Italy  in  silk- 
production.  Eleven  thousand  tons  of  cocoons 
are  produced  there,  valued  at  one  thousand  dol- 
lars a  ton.  Italy  produces  about  one  third  of  the 
silk  of  the  world. 

In  A.  D.  1892,  Italy  produced  $34,492,500 
worth  of  cocoons.  In  A.  D.  1878,  Italy  had  230 
silk  factories,  with  2,100,000  spindles,  giving  em- 
ployment to  16,000  men.  There  were  also  120,- 
000  women  and  76,000  children  employed,  attend- 
ing to  silkworms. 

A  Glimpse  at  Italian  Silk-culture  as  it  is  Carried 
on  To-day,  in  Contrast  with  What  It  Might 
be  in  This  Climate  and  Country,  as  Repre- 
sented in  This  Book. 

The  gentleman  who  gave  this  information  is  a 
native  of  the  city  of  Verona,  Italy,  and  his 
brother  and  brother's  son  carry  on  the  silk 
industry  as  herein  described.  They  own  two 
farms  of  about  350  acres,  near  the  city  of  Verona, 
in  the  province  of  Lombardy,  in  the  northern 
part  of  Italy.  It  is  sheltered  on  the  north  and 
east,  and  partly  on  the  west,  by  the  Alps,  and 
branches  of  this  range  of  mountains.  The  total 
area  of  the  valley  is  about  125  by  175  miles.  So 


106  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

it  will  be  readily  seen  how  great  and  sudden 
changes  of  temperature  are  liable  to  occur  at  any 
time  during  the  silk  season.  Those  chilling 
winds  swooping  down  from  the  snow-capped 
mountains  sometimes  destroy  the  whole  crop  of 
silkworms  in  the  valleys.  When  these  mis- 
fortunes occur,  the  entire  crop  of  silk  is  lost  for 
the  year,  as  (there  the  season  is  but  seven  weeks) 
they  have  no  eggs  in  storage,  and  there  are  none 
in  market. 

Should  such  a  thing  occur  in  our  glorious 
land,  if  the  people  were  engaged  in  silk-culture, 
there  would  be  only  a  loss  of  the  one  crop  of 
worms  and  the  leaves  injured  by  the  storm.  In 
two  or  three  weeks  the  leaves  would  be  replaced 
by  another  crop,  as  tender,  fresh,  and  abundant 
as  the  first,  and  another  brood  of  worms  taken 
from  cold-storage  would  grow  and  thrive,  and  in 
an  incredibly  short  time  would  fill  the  place  of 
those  that  perished.  But  such  storms  have 
never  yet  occurred  here. 

On  these  farms  are  a  number  of  tenant-houses, 
of  stone,  grouped  together  as  a  village,  with  a 
church  in  the  center,  as  is  always  the  case  in 
Italy.  The  church  is  the  best  building.  Most 
of  the  houses  are  two  stories  high,  built  without 
any  attempt  at  architectural  beauty  of  design  or 
finish;  hence  they  have  a  dreary,  uninviting 


HEARING    SILKWORMS.  107 

appearance.  These  houses  are  the  homes  of  the 
laboring  classes. 

Wages  are  very  low.  The  wants  of  the  peas- 
antry are  few,  and  not  very  well  supplied.  They 
have  no  home  luxuries,  and  few  indeed  of  what 
we  call  the  comforts  of  life.  Their  food  consists 
largely  of  some  kind  of  coarse  meal,  which  they 
cook  in  some  way  two  or  three  times  a  week,  and 
then  they  eat  it  with  sour  wine.  They  have  no 
means  of  heating  their  houses,  save  one  large 
fireplace,  and  even  this  they  are  unable  to 
supply  with  fuel,  as  wrood  is  very  dear.  It  is 
quite  customary  when  mothers  see  their  infants 
shivering  with  cold,  to  take  them  out  to  the 
stables  w7here  the  stock  is  kept,  that  they  may 
there  feel  the  warmth  generated  by  living  bodies. 

The  landlords  supply  everything  for  their 
tenants,  and  they  work  partly  on  shares,  always 
seeking  to  retain  the  lion's  share  for  themselves. 

As  well  as  supplying  all  material  to  work  with, 
the  land-owners  have  to  keep  everything  in 
repair.  They  also  irrigate,  and  this  is  an  abso- 
lute necessity  to  success  in  any  line  of  agri- 
culture. Their  entire  water  system  is  in  the 
hands  of  an  English  syndicate,  and  they  charge 
enormously  for  irrigation. 

When  the  tenants  are  not  busy  with  silk,  they 
are  engaged  in  other  lines  of  work.  They  culti- 
vate some  fruit  and  raise  stock  for  market.  To 


108  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

accomplish  this  (i.  e.,  to  fatten  stock),  every 
particle  of  waste  from  the  cocooneries  is  saved, 
the  parts  of  dry  leaves  and  tender  twigs  of  the 
mulberry  trees,  and  even  the  excrement  of  the 
worms,  is  saved  and  dried,  and  stored  away  in 
sacks,  as  grain.  It  is  fed  dry,  like  grain,  and 
proves  a  wonderful  flesh-producer. 

The  young  girls  are  employed  in  picking  stones 
off  the  ground  and  piling  them  in  heaps.  This 
is  their  work  when  not  at  something  else. 

When  the  silk  season  begins,  which  is  about 
the  10th  of  April,  everything  is  life  and  motion. 
The  landlords  buy  the  silk-seed  or  eggs  (usually 
from  Japan),  and  deal  them  out  to  the  household 
tenants,  according  to  the  members  of  the  family 
who  are  able  to  care  for  the  silkworms.  They 
hatch  them  out  in  small  boxes  covered  with 
glass,  which  they  put  in  the  sunshine,  with  paper 
or  cloth  over  them  to  keep  off  the  direct  sunshine. 

When  the  silk  season  is  fairly  inaugurated, 
these  tenants  give  up  their  best  rooms  to  the 
silkworms,  while  they  themselves  live  in  closer 
quarters.  At  this  season,  old  and  young,  male 
and  female,  are  all  busy,  night  and  day.  They 
relieve  one  another  during  the  night.  In  seven 
weeks  from  beginning,  the  season  is  all  over. 

For  the  worms  of  the  first  age  they  cut  the 
leaves  very  fine;  and  for  the  next  two  ages,  not 
so  small.  For  the  two  last  ages,  they  do  not  cut, 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  109 

but  feed  the  branches  of  the  mulberry.  They 
make  trays  of  straw  woven  into  strong  wooden 
frames,  nine  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide. 
These  are  fastened  to  two  upright  posts  or  stands, 
and  are  placed,  four  or  five,  one  over  the  other, 
at  equal  distance  apart.  On  these  trays  they 
place  the  large  worms  and  feed  them  with 
branches,  changing  them  when  the  debris  accu- 
mulates too  much. 

It  is  not  at  all  surprising,  that  with  this  mode 
of  raising  silkworms,  that  they  have  to  buy  seed 
every  year,  for  such  a  style  of  operating  would  as- 
suredly tend  to  develop  disease  of  the  worst  form. 

For  the  worms  to  spin,  they  tie  little  bundles 
of  twigs  or  coarse  straw  together,  and  lay  them 
on  those  trays  till  the  worms  crawl  in  and  then 
begin  to  spin.  When  the  worms  have  formed 
the  outline  of  the  cocoons,  and  the  branches  are 
as  full  of  the  forming  cocoons  as  they  think  best, 
they  take  these  branches  and  stand  them  up  in 
some  quiet  place  to  finish  their  work. 

Thus  the  whole  business  is  carried  on  in  the 
crudest  fashion,  and  calculated  to  bring  in  the 
most  meager  results.  Nevertheless  the  landlords 
find  that  their  profits  are  much  larger  from  the 
silk  business  than  from  all  other  productions  of 
their  landed  estates,  though  the  time  occupied  is 
only  about  seven  weeks. 

The  silk  season  is  the  busiest,  happiest  time  of 


110  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

year  for  all  classes.  All  are  anxious  to  see  the 
outcome.  The  wealthy  ladies  are  not  afraid  to 
use  their  hoarded  pin-money,  gambling  in  stocks 
of  both  cocoons  and  reeled  silk. 

The  reels  on  which  these  poor  peasants  reel 
silk  are  crude  as  crude  can  be,  nor  can  their  silk 
be  either  as  good  or  as  fine  in  appearance  as  it 
might  be  made  with  proper  care  and  scientific 
manipulation.  Yet  this  one  small  county 
(Verona)  of  the  province  of  Lombardy  sends  out 
annually  five  million  dollars'  worth  of  silk. 

The  mulberry  trees  in  this  part  of  Italy  are 
said  to  be  a  hundred  years  old.  They  are  not 
allowed  to  grow  more  than  six  to  ten  feet  high, 
and  are  about  twelve  feet  in  circumference. 
They  are  pruned  laterally  every  year,  in  the 
autumn.  They  have  a  very  gnarly  appearance, 
from  having  been  pruned  so  many  many  times. 

This  gentleman  suggested  that  they  try  work- 
ing on  a  different  plan  and  with  better  ma- 
chinery, as  also  better  accommodations  for  the 
worms.  He  was  told  that  it  had  been  tried,  but 
failed;  that  the  tenants  were  so  dishonest,  they 
had  to  be  watched  all  the  time,  and  this  could 
be  done  better  when  they  were  kept  in  separate 
households.  But  even  under  this  management 
the  owners  lose  many  a  skein  of  silk  and  many 
a  basket  of  cocoons,  for  the  peasantry  well  know 
that  silk,  to  them,  is  as  good  as  gold. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  Ill 


SILK-CULTURE   IN   AUSTRALIA. 

In  the  year  1825  the  Australian  Agricultural 
Company  was  organized.  It  was  designed  to 
give  encouragement  to  the  production  of  silk,  as 
well  as  other  products  of  the  soil.  Mulberry 
trees  were  planted,  and  various  attempts  made 
to  establish  the  silk  industry.  Through  a  succes- 
sion of  years,  and  in  different  parts  of  the  island, 
different  persons  attempted  to  raise  silkworms. 
Trials  and  failures  followed  each  other.  The 
causes  of  failure  were  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the 
best  locations,  as  well  as  not  knowing  how  to 
care  for  the  worms.  The  people  were  not  edu- 
cated on  these  special  lines  of  agriculture. 

In  or  about  the  year  1862,  Colonel  Charles 
Brady  took  up  the  matter  of  silk-culture  in  Aus- 
tralia and  spent  many  years  and  much  capital 
in  experimenting  on  both  the  silkworms  and  the 
mulberry  tree.  His  continued  intelligent  labors 
were,  in  one  sense  at  least,  fully  rewarded.  He 
succeeded  in  producing  the  best  races  of  worms 
known  to  exist  in  any  country,  some  of  which 
spun  cocoons  from  which  were  reeled  eighteen  - 
hundred  yards  of  silk  fiber.. 

At  the  time  when  the  silk  disease  ravaged 
Europe,  he  obtained  some  of  the  best  breeds  from 


112  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

all  countries,  and  sought  to  eliminate  disease 
from  them,  and  sometimes  found  it  necessary  to 
destroy  the  product  of  an  ounce  of  eggs  (40,000), 
all  except  one  couple,  from  which  he  would 
propagate  from  that  respective  race.  England, 
having  a  faithful,  watch  care  over  her  colonies, 
as  well  in  their  industrial  development  as  other- 
wise, was  greatly  exercised  about  the  spread  of 
the  silk  disease,  as  its  widespread  effects  seemed 
very  likely  to  put  a  stop  to  the  many  silk-looms 
that  gave  employment  to  so  many  of  her  sub- 
jects. While  there  was  scarce  an  ounce  of 
healthy  silk  grain  to  be  found  in  any  country 
(except  Japan),  Colonel  Brady  was  faithfully 
toiling  —  battling  against  the  fatal  enemy.  One 
special  race  that  he  succeeded  in  establishing  in 
perfect  health  was  the  Milanaise,  which  race  is 
now  held  in  very  high  esteem. 

All  writers  on  this  subject  about  that  time 
gave  it  as  their  judgment,  that  the  general  cause 
of  failure  was  the  want  of  proper  calculation  in 
attempting  to  rear  worms  when  suitable  provis- 
ion had  not  been  made  for  their  maintenance, 
and  a  knowledge  of  their  requirements  had  not 
been  attained.  This  seems  to  be  the  reason  why 
such  poor  quality  of  silk  comes  from  India.  In 
some  of  the  experiments  in  Australia, the  mulberry 
trees  used  were  the  Morus  multicaulis,  which  is 


.    REARING    SILKWORMS.  113 

not  by  any  means  the  best  tree  for  all  ages.  In 
other  cases  the  groves  were  set  out  in  localities 
where  the  dust  from  the  road  in  the  dry  season 
rested  on  the  leaves,  and  they  failed  to  wash  off 
the  dust.  This  proved  disastrous  to  silkworms, 
and  very  many  died  from  the  effects  of  dust 
taken  into  the  system.  It  also  is  injurious  to 
the  worm  to  come  in  contact  with  dust  externally, 
as,  their  breathing  apertures  being  numerous, 
they  imbibe  freely  from  their  surroundings. 

Both  men  and  women  of  note  entered  into  the 
business  of  rearing  silkworms  in  the  British 
colony,  and  with  some  degree  of  success,  —  not, 
however,  as  great  as  would  have  marked  their 
endeavors,  had  they  gone  at  the  business  in  a 
more  practical  way,  and,  first  of  alL^c^uriiedr-the- 
cost,  and  employed  only  those  who  understood 
thoroughly  the  care  of  the  worms  and  the  culti- 
vation of  the  mulberry..  Colonel  Brady  made 
one  discovery  which  had  never  before  been 
thought  of,  and  which  is  of  incalculable  worth  to 
all  countries  where  it  is  possible  to  carry  out  his 
system.  I  refer  to  the  continuous  hatching  out 
of  the  silkworm.  After  long  and  faithful  study 
with  different  races  and  different  foods,  he  dis- 
covered that  it  was  possible  to  have  silk-eggs 
hatch  out  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Next  he 
discovered  that  it  was  possible  to  control  these 


114  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

eggs  by  the  use  of  cold-storage,  so  that  they 
would  not  hatch  at  all  times,  but  only  when  they 
were  taken  from  the  storage  and  placed  in  certain 
conditions.  Whenever  leaf-food  was  ready,  then 
the  eggs  could  be  brought  by  slow  degrees  to  a 
warm  and  still  warmer  temperature,  till  70°  F. 
was  reached,  at  which  temperature  they  would 
hatch  in  three  or  four  days. 

The  particulars  of  this  wonderful  secret  is  not 
given  in  any  of  Colonel  Brady's  writings,  that  I 
have  yet  seen.  Neither  is  it  generally  known 
that  such  a  secret  has  been  discovered;  as  the 
books — what  few  there  are  written  on  this  sub- 
ject—  speak  of  the  silkworm  season  as  only  one 
small  portion  of  the  year. 

In  another  chapter  in  this  book  I  will  give  a 
slight  account  of  my  experiments,  and  the  results 
that  followed. 

The  adaptation  of  Australia  to  silk-culture 
was  fully  demonstrated  by  the  quality  of  cocoons 
and  the  silks  that  were  there  produced. 

After  more  than  twenty  years'  faithful  work 
and  of  scientific  experiments,  Colonel  Charles 
Brady  induced  the  government  of  the  colony  to 
take  hold  of  the  silk  business.  They  seemed 
more  inclined  to  benefit  their  own  country  by 
the  development  of  silk,  than  to  spread  abroad 
the  knowledge  acquired  at  such  cost  of  time  and 
patient  experiments. 


REARING    SILKWORM 


In  1894,  Colonel  Brady  took  thirty  trays  of 
living  silkworms,  also  a  quantity  of  live  cocoons, 
to  an  agricultural  exhibition,  280  miles  by  rail- 
road. They  all  arrived  in  perfect  condition,  and 
attracted  more  attention  at  the  exhibit  than  any 
one  feature  represented  by  those  who  took  part 
in  it.  The  people  were  all  amazed  to  see  the 
complete  exhibition  of  the  industry  from  the 
eggs  to  the  eggs  again,  as  the  millers  were  there 
laying  eggs,  and  the  little  worms  were  hatching 
out  of  the  previously  laid  eggs. 

Colonel  Brady's  estimate  of  the  profit  of  the 
silk  business  is  that  an  acre  of  mulberries  prop- 
erly cared  for  will  yield  $75  to  $125.  This 
signifies  one  crop.  If,  therefore,  our  California 
trees  will  bear  three  or  four  crops  of  leaves,  the 
profits  will,  of  course,  be  correspondingly  greater. 
The  climate  of  San  Diego  is  very  much  better 
than  most  parts  of  Australia. 


116  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 


SILK   IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

Ere  yet  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  thought  of 
as  a  national  emblem,  or  known,  save  in  the 
mind  of  the  great  Jehovah,  who  has  marked  us 
as  a  people  for  whom  he  has  reserved  a  glorious 
future,  the  cultivation  of  silk  was  carried  on  in 
what  was  then  known  as  the  English  colonies. 
It  might  have  continued  to  flourish  since  then, 
had  not  England  granted  a  charter  to  a  joint- 
stock  company  to  take  African  negroes  to  the 
colonies  to  cultivate  tobacco.  This  new  industry 
claimed  the  attention  of  the  large  land-owners, 
because  they  fancied  that  in  it  they  saw  more 
immediate  profit.  But  a  few  faithful  women 
continued  to  raise  silkworms,  and  to  weave  silk 
with  wool  for  domestic  wear.  When  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  broke  out,  all  else,  save  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  was  neglected,  and  silk,  with  all 
other  luxuries,  almost  entirely  faded  from  the 
minds  of  the  colonists. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  the  production  of 
cotton  became  general  in  the  Southern  portion  of 
the  New  World.  Then  followed  its  manufacture 
in  both  North  and  South.  Then  slave-labor  be- 
came more  general,  and  cotton  being  as  easily 
grown  as  silk,  and  requiring  less  intellectual  force 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  117 

to  manufacture,  it  largely  took  the  place  of  silk. 
And  by  slow  degrees,  cotton,  rice,  tobacco,  and 
sugar  took  the  place  of  silk  on  all  the  plantations 
of  the  Southern  States.  Though  a  pound  of  cot- 
ton would  bring  but  about  three  cents,  while  a 
pound  of  silk  brought  thirty-five  to  forty  cents, 
the  cotton  required  less  skill,  and  would  endure 
more  abuse  than  the  silkworms  or  the  silk,  and 
so  it  came  that  the  silk  was  neglected  by  the 
large  plantation-owners.  But  as  the  years  moved 
on,  others,  less  able  to  hold  slaves  or  large  estates, 
became  more  interested  in  the  production  of  silk, 
and  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  multi- 
caulis  fever,  as  it  was  called,  sprung  up,  and 
spread  over  the  entire  country.  This  fever  was 
a  mere  frenzy  or  excitement,  started  by  unscrupu- 
lous nurserymen  to  sell  the  mulberry  tree  of  that 
name.  So  wild  did  the  people  become  on  this 
question,  that  single  slips  from  ten  to  twelve 
inches  long  were  sold  at  one  dollar  apiece.  Many 
of  the  trees  then  planted  are  growing  in  the 
Southern  States  to-day. 

At  the  Interstate,  State,  and  West  India  Fair 
held  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1901  and 
1902,  a  silk  dress  made  from  silk  there  produced 
was  exhibited.  The  dress  was  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  old.  The  silk  was  sent  to  England  to  be 
woven.  There  are  in  that  particular  region  many 
very  old  mulberry  trees  still  growing. 


118  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

The  first  silk-mill  in  the  United  States  was 
erected  in  A.  D.  1810,  in  Mansfield,  Connecticut. 
Fifty  or  sixty  years  £go,  there  was  quite  an  interest 
in  the  South  Atlantic  States  in  the  silk  business. 
In  those  days  the  government  paid  a  bounty  of  fif- 
teen cents  on  every  pound  of  good  cocoons,  and  one 
dollar  on  every  pound  of  reeled  silk.  Then  they 
used  the  Piedmontese  reels,  which  are  exceedingly 
simple  in  construction,  and  can  be  operated  by  any 
one  of  ordinary  common  sense..  At  that  time,  silk 
reeled  on  those  reels  brought  six  dollars  a  pound 
in  Philadelphia.  Some  few  years  previous  to  the 
time  here  referred  to,  it  is  stated  that  scientific 
and  learned  men  considered  the  art  of  reeling  so 
very  difficult  a  branch  of  knowledge  to  acquire, 
that  our  government  was  asked  to  endow  a  school 
with  sixty  thousand  dollars,  merely  for  the  pur- 
pose of  teaching  six  young  men  to  reel  silk. 
These  young  men  were  to  attend  three  successive 
summers,  four  months  each  summer.  This  state- 
ment may  be  seen  on  the  records  of  Congress. 
(Surely  we  are  a  progressive  people.) 

In  1839,  a  young  woman  went  from  Baltimore 
to  Philadelphia,  paid  the  model  filature  that  was 
then  operating  there  ten  dollars  for  instruction, 
stayed  there  five  days,  and  learned  to  reel  silk. 
She  then  bought  a  reel,  and  returned  home  and 
reeled  her  own  cocoons. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  119 

About  this  time  silk  was  produced  and  manu- 
factured in  both  the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  Tennes- 
see, Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  other  states  of 
the  South.  They  made  large  quantities  of  silk 
thread,  as  well  as  cloth  and  hosiery;  but  they 
did  not  enter  upon  the  business  on  a  very  large 
scale.  Most  persons  who  raised  the  cocoons  also 
manufactured  the  silk  to  suit  themselves,  and 
many  of  the  garments  then  woven  are  still  cher- 
ished as  heirlooms  in  old  families  of  the  South. 
Many  of  the  mulberry  trees  then  in  use  have 
become  almost  wild,  for  want  of  care  and  cultiva- 
tion. The  silk  business,  like  most  agricultural 
affairs  in  those  days,  was  rather  an  individual 
matter.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  cocoons  raised  were 
sent  from  the  farms  where  they  were  raised  and 
reeled  till  the  whole  work  was  done.  But  with 
the  years  the  influence  of  slave-labor  grew  more 
and  more  upon  the  people.  The  masters  became 
less  inclined  to  labor,  and  the  slaves  became,  if 
possible,  less  fitted  for  anything  but  to  toil 
unceasingly  in  the  dull  routine  of  plantation- 
work.  Their  habits  of  life  in  every  way  unfitted 
them  for  work  in  silk-cocooneries,  or  even  in 
silk-mills.  Thus  it  was  that  in  those  early  days 
of  our  national  life,  the  silk  industry  fell  into 
the  background,  and  was  wellnigh  obliterated, 
save  here  and  there,  like  an  oasis  in  a  desert,  a 


120  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

few  farms  were  given  to  the  production  of  silk- 
worms, and  a  few  factories  manufactured  both 
home-production  and  that  which  was  brought 
from  foreign  countries. 

When  at  last  the  long-agitated  question  of 
slavery  reached  the  climax,  and  the  tocsin  of 
civil  war  burst  upon  the  ears  of  the  American 
people,  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  South 
were  disrupted,  as  also  the  manufacturing  inter- 
ests of  the  North,  as  they  looked  to  the  cotton- 
fields  of  the  South  to  feed  their  factories. 

At  this  time  in  our  national  history  there  was 
a  duty  of  fifteen  per  cent  on  all  raw  or  reeled 
silk  brought  into  this  country.  This  rate  of 
duty  continued  till  some  time  after  the  close  of 
the  Civil  War.  Then  all  duty  was  removed  from 
raw  silk,  and  reeled  silk  was  invoiced  as  raw 
silk,  and  so  continues  to  the  present,  so  that 
there  is  no  duty  on  silk  imported,  unless  it  be 
fully  manufactured.  Reeled  silk  is  only  twenty- 
five  per  cent  manufactured,  but  comes  in  free,  as 
though  it  were  not  twisted  at  all.  (See  the 
monthly  reports  of  raw  silk  in  the  American 
Silk  Journal,  published  in  New  York.) 

In  1880,  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  The 
Woman's  Silk-Culture  Association  of  the  United 
States  was  incorporated,  and  placed  under  the 
able  management  of  Mrs.  John  Lucas.  Through 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  121 

the  efforts  of  this  society,  much  good  was  accom- 
plished by  awakening  an  interest  in  silk-culture, 
both  among  the  producers  and  also  with  the 
government  officials.  The  association  sent  out 
thousands  of  mulberry  trees  and  cuttings  to 
twenty-eight  different  states.  They  also  freely 
distributed  eggs,  and  literature  giving  instruction 
in  the  silk  business.  They  had  made  three 
different  kinds  of  silk-reels,  and  on  them  taught 
many  young  women  how  to  reel  silk.  From  the 
report  of  the  first  decade  of  their  existence  as  a 
society  the  following  statements  are  quoted  :  — 

'"We  have  bought,  raised,  and  reeled  12,000 
pounds  of  cocoons;  have  made  2,000  yards  of 
silk  dress-goods;  have  sold  1,500  pounds  of 
reeled  and  raw  silk;  have  made  forty  silk  United 
States  flags;  and  have  made  dozens  of  silk  hand- 
kerchiefs, fringes,  ribbons,  brocaded  velvets,  trim- 
mings, sewing-silk,  etc.  Seventeen  of  these  flags 
we  presented  to  the  Central  and  South  American 
governments.  We  presented  to  Mrs.  James  A. 
Garfield  the  first  silk  dress  made  from  silk  raised 
by  our  association.  We  have  sent  exhibits  of  our 
work,  reels,  and  reelers  to  almost  every  large 
state  and  agricultural  fair  held  within  the  last 
decade.  We  sent  a  very  large  exhibit  to  the  fair 
held  in  the  city  of  London,  England,  a  few  years 
ago.  We  also  held  in  Philadelphia  two  of  the 


122  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

largest  silk  fairs  held  in  any  country  in  the 
world.  We  have  distributed  hundreds  of  ounces 
of  eggs,  thousands  of  trees  and  cuttings  of  the 
mulberry,  and  thousands  of  tracts  and  pamphlets 
on  silk  literature.  .  .  .  We  have  tested  in  every 
practical  way  all  the  different  kinds  of  the  silk- 
worm family  and  their  foods,  etc.,  and  thousands 
of  pounds  of  cocoons.  We  also  sent  one  of  our 
improved  reels  to  Smyrna,  in  Turkey.  And  all 
this,  without  any  member  of  the  association 
receiving  one  cent  for  their  time  or  service;  and 
that,  too,  with  the  very  limited  amount  received 
from  the  United  States  government.  All  the 
various  flags,  dresses,  etc.,  presented  have  been 
paid  for  from  the  funds  of  the  association,  and 
not  from  the  government  funds." 

A  detailed  account  of  profits  and  expenses  of 
this  association  is  also  given,  but  want  of  space 
in  this  book  forbids  its  insertion. 

Just  as  this  body  of  women  were  beginning  to 
feel  that  with  the  continued  aid  of  the  govern- 
ment for  a  few  years,  they  would  see  the  silk- 
producing  business  of  this  country  fixed  on  a 
permanent  basis,  the  Fifty-first  Congress  of  the 
United  States  refused  to  longer  aid  this  special 
branch  of  agricultural  industry,  and  all  appro- 
priation of  funds  came  to  a  sudden  end.  Not 
only  this,  but  it  was  then  decided  that  the  silk 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  123 

department,  which  hitherto  had  been  carried  on 
in  the  Agricultural  Department  in  Washington, 
should  be  at  once  closed. 

All  through  those  years,  while  the  Woman's 
Association  was  laboring  to  establish  this  great 
textile  industry  for  the  good  of  the  whole  country, 
the  silk  manufacturers  were  as  faithfully  working 
to  keep  it  out,  lest  the  price  of  the  raw  material 
be  raised.  They  opposed  every  measure  that 
pointed  to  the  possibility  of  a  supply  of  silk  being 
produced  from  our  free  soil,  and  chose  rather  to 
trust  to  the  supply  from  European  and  Asiatic 
markets.  By  importing  silk  that  was  twenty-five 
to  thirty-five  per  cent  manufactured,  as  raw  mate- 
rial, they  saved  to  themselves  about  eight  million 
dollars  annually.  But,  let  it  be  known  that  this 
large  sum  belonged  to  the  government,  and  should 
have  been  paid  as  other  import  duties  were,  and 
are. 

Another  very  potent  reason  why  Congress  at 
that  time  refused  to  aid  this  industry  was,  that 
the  managers  of  the  silk  bureau  at  Washington 
had  for  some  years  been  asking  a  very  large 
appropriation  to  keep  open  a  special  silk  bureau 
in  the  Agricultural  Department.  At  last  they 
came  before  Congress  with  a  request  for  an  annual 
appropriation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  They  presented  to  Congress  the  neces- 


124  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

sity  of  maintaining  most  elaborate  details  of  ser- 
vice, and  a  complication  of  offices  that  Con- 
gress could  not  see  any  need  for,  and  conse- 
quently they  refused  to  grant  so  large  an  amount, 
and  the  department  refused  to  take  any  less,  and 
so  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  was  that 
the  silk  bureau  at  Washington  was  closed.  The 
market  for  cocoons  was  no  more,  and  what  eggs 
of  the  silkworm  were  then  on  hand  were  scattered 
freely  to  all  who  sent  for  them.  Those  who  re- 
ceived eggs  were  informed  that  there  would  no 
longer  be  a  market  in  Washington  for  cocoons, 
nor  was  it  likely  there  would  be  again  for  years 
in  the  United  States. 

The  Woman's  Association  at  Philadelphia  was 
forced  by  this  action  to  suppress  all  further 
efforts,  as  they  were  unable  to  bear  the  whole 
burden,  and  thus  failed  to  obtain  any  further  aid 
from  the  government. 

The  twenty-eight  states  that  had  planted  trees, 
hoping  soon  to  be  self-supporting  in  the  silk 
business,  when  the  trees  had  attained  sufficient 
growth,  became  discouraged,  and  turned  their 
cocooneries  to  other  purposes,  while  their  mul- 
berry groves  were  either  neglected  or  hewed  down 
for  fuel. 

This  action  of  the  silk  manufacturers  and  the 
silk  bureau  at  Washington,  on  the  one  hand,  and 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  125 

the  authorities  at  Washington  on  the  other,  dis- 
rupted the  whole  silk  business,  and  for  a  time 
served  to  restrain  successful  effort  in  the  silk 
business. 

This  state  of  affairs  came  about  just  as  San 
Diego  became  interested  in  silk-culture,  and 
throughout  the  past  decade,  the  same  conditions 
existing  (i.  e.,  no  market  for  cocoons),  has  proved 
the  greatest  barrier  to  the  silk  business.  But 
amid  all  these  seeming  discouragements,  the  fact 
remains  that  the  residents  of  Southern  California 
are  in  possession  of  the  finest  country  on  the  face 
of  the  globe  for  the  production  of  the  silkworm, 
as  well  as  its  best  and  choicest  food,  the  mulberry 
tree. 

But  to  look  back  over  those  years  mentioned 
as  to  the  work  in  the  East,  we  must  recount  very 
briefly  what  was  going  on  in  California.  Long 
before  the  Woman's  Association  was  thought  of 
in  the  East,  M.  Prevost,  a  Frenchman  and  silk- 
culturist,  came  to  California.  He  wrought  a 
good  and  noble  work  in  the  northern  and  middle 
portion  of  the  state,  by  demonstrating  what 
might  be  accomplished  here  in  the  silk  business, 
as  compared  with  France.  He  asserted  that  one 
person  here  could  do  as  much  as  seven  or  eight 
persons  in  France,  in  caring  for  worms.  This, 
he  said,  was  owing  to  the  better  climate,  the  more 


126  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION    IN 

healthy  worms,  and  the  better  food,  as  well  as  the 
manner  of  feeding.  Worms  raised  in  our  health- 
ful climate  do  not  require  such  constant  care  as 
in  other  countries.  This  man  was  the  real 
pioneer  of  silk-culture  in  California.  He  did 
much  to  encourage  silk  growing  and  manufacture 
for  a  number  of  years.  He  wrote,  and  talked, 
and  labored  very  enthusiastically,  and  accom- 
plished much  more  than  at  first  he  dared  to  hope 
for.  Full  of  hope  for  the  future  of  this  great 
industry,  he  went  back  to  France  to  secure  a 
large  invoice  of  the  choicest  eggs  to  be  had  there. 
But,  alas!  he  was  taken  sick  there,  and  died. 
And  thus  it  happened  that  the  silk  business  was, 
as  it  were,  left  without  a  head,  and  the  attention 
of  horticulturists  was  diverted  to  other  channels 
of  profitable  labor  in  California. 

At  that  time  cocoons  sold  in  France  for  $1.30 
to  $2.30  a  pound.  M.  Prevost  had  in  one  mul- 
berry orchard  twenty-five  thousand  trees,  and  he, 
during  one  season,  raised  one  hundred  thousand 
silkworms  without  any  assistance. 

Joseph  Newman  also  did  much  in  those  early 
days  to  seek  to  establish  the  silk  business  per- 
manently. He  tried  faithfully  to  get  the  atten- 
tion of  Congress  on  this  subject,  and  to  show 
them  where  they  showed  great  injustice  to  the 
people  by  passing  a  law  allowing  reeled  silk  to  be 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  127 

imported  as  raw  material,  and  hence  free  of  duty; 
while  they  imposed  a  duty  of  sixty  per  cent 
ad  valorem  on  fully  manufactured  silks.  Not 
only  was  reeled  silk  admitted  as  raw  silk,  but 
manufacturers  sent  over  to  foreign  countries  their 
own  employees  and  had  them  re-reel  the  silk 
which  they  called  raw  silk.  The  operation  of  re- 
reeling  silk  brought  it  a  step  nearer  complete 
manufacture,  so  that  it  should  be  charged  thirty- 
five  instead  of  twenty-five  per  cent  duty.  Instead 
of  this,  however,  the  silk  manufacturers  gave  this 
another  name,  —  viz.,  filature  silk,  —  and  then 
imported  it  free  of  all  duty. 

At  this  time  California  was  becoming  quite 
interested  in  silk-culture.  The  manufacturers 
did  not  want  success  in  this  branch  of  industry, 
and  fought  against  it  by  arguing  that  it  was  best 
to  let  the  millers  pierce  all  the  cocoons  raised,  so 
that  they  could  only  be  made  into  spun  silk.  To 
work  out  this  scheme,  they  offered  six  dollars  an 
ounce  for  silk-eggs,  and  then  destroyed  the  eggs, 
so  as  to  crush  out  this  great  industry,  if  possible. 

These  few  facts  are  cited  from  the  records  of 
the  doings  of  Congress  during  its  fiftieth  session, 
merely  to  show  to  those  who  are  interested  in  this 
business  WHERE  the  trouble  lies,  and  why  silk- 
producing  has  never  gained  a  foothold  in  the 
United  States, 


128  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

In  1869,  Joseph  Newman  produced  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  pounds  of  reeled  silk,  which  was 
then  worth  sixteen  dollars  a  pound.  Of  this  he 
manufactured  two  flags  twenty  by  thirty-six  feet. 
One  he  presented  to  the  state  at  Sacramento, 
and  the  other  to  the  government  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

At  this  time  the  reputation  of  California  silk- 
eggs  had  gone  abroad,  and  the  French  silk-pro- 
ducers contracted  for  about  twenty  thousand 
ounces  of  silk-eggs  produced  in  California,  but 
the  Franco-German  War  broke  out  just  at  that 
time,  and  so  disrupted  all  industries  in  those  coun- 
tries that  the  order  was  annulled. 

Joseph  Newman  did  much  to  encourage  the 
silk  business  in  our  Golden  State,  but  he  made 
one  grave  —  very  grave  —  mistake  when  he  advo- 
cated the  cultivation  of  the  wild  silkworm.  Silk 
made  from  those  insects  is  of  little  or  no  real  value. 

About  this  time  the  State  Board  of  Silk-culture 
was  organized  in  this  state,  and  did  very  good 
work  on  certain  lines.  They  sent  out  many 
pages  of  literature,  instructing  the  people  in  the 
art  of  silk-culture  and  planting  trees,  etc.  They 
also  gave  instruction  in  reeling  silk  to  those  who 
wished  to  learn.  The  state  had  made  an  appro- 
priation for  the  encouragement  of  silk-culture, 
and  out  of  this  fund  reels  were  purchased  and 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  129 

instructors  employed,  but  no  charge  was  made  to 
those  who  learned  to  reel.  They  compiled  statis- 
tics, and  showed  by  them  that  California  could 
produce  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  silk  every 
year,  if  only  the  people  were  properly  instructed. 
They  show  us  in  their  published  literature  that 
our  nation  acted  unfairly  in  supporting  training- 
schools  for  fitting  soldiers  and  sailors  to  protect 
•our  country,  while  they  so  sadly  neglected  to 
establish  schools  of  instruction  in  this  great  in- 
dustry, which  might  prove  a  very  important 
factor  in  developing  our  internal  wealth  as  a 
nation,  for  it  cannot  be  denied  that  wealth  is  the 
strength  of  every  nation,  state,  or  association. 
There  was  not  then,  is  not  now,  and  never  has 
been,  a  national  school  of  instruction  in  the  art 
of  silk-culture  in  the  United  States.  In  this  one 
thing  our  nation  falls  behind  any  of  the  large 
silk-producing  countries  of  the  civilized  world. 

This  State  Board  of  Silk-culture,  while  not 
doing  all  that  a  larger  and  practical  experience 
would  have  enabled  them  to  do,  yet  they  kept 
alive  a  great  interest  in  the  silk  business  for  a 
few  years.  They  offered  premiums  for  the  best 
cocoons,  both  to  children  and  adults,  and  in  this 
movement  they  were  joined  by  the  Woman's 
Silk-culture  Association  of  the  United  States  at 
Philadelphia,  under  the  able  management  of 
Mrs.  John  Lucas. 


130  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

Just  as  the  State  Board  was  beginning  to  realize 
satisfactory  results  from  their  work,  and  all 
things  seemed  to  point  to  a  successful  establishing 
of  the  silk  business  in  California  under  the  as- 
sisting care  of  the  state  government,  the  Governor- 
elect  refused  to  sign  the  bill  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature for  the  promotion  of  the  silk  industry,  and 
thus  it  was  that  all  efforts  put  forth  to  this  end 
were  lost,  or  at  least  suspended  indefinitely. 

As  soon  as  this  fact  became  known,  a  few  ener- 
getic women  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  state 
at  once  went  to  work  and  organized  the  Ladies7 
Silk-culture  Society  of  California.  They  pub- 
ished  circulars  and  sent  them  to  all  parts  of 
the  state  where  silk-culture  had  taken  hold,  and 
advertised  that  they  would  purchase  all  cocoons 
produced  in  the  state;  but  the  mails  were  slow 
in  reaching  those  rural  districts,  and  those  cir- 
culars reached  many  sections  after  the  mulberry 
trees  had  been  uprooted  and  had  given  place  to 
fruit  trees  or  grain  of  some  kind. 

There  were  no  filatures  in  the  state,  except 
those  owned  by  the  State  Board,  and  kept  in 
operation  from  state  funds.  The  refusing  to 
grant  further  state  aid  was  therefore  equivalent 
to  closing  the  market  for  cocoons.  With  what 
stock  remained  on  hand  when  the  appropriation 
failed,  the  Ladies'  Association  and  the  State 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  131 

Board  kept  working  together,  hoping  that  the 
state  authorities  would  yet  see  the  advisability  of 
establishing  silk-culture  as  a  great  industry  of 
the  state.  They  labored  hard,  though  not  very 
wisely,  for  want  of  practical  experience.  Their 
selection  of  location  for  mulberry  grove  and  place 
for  cocoonery  was  very  unfortunate,  as  the  climate 
in  that  particular  locality  was  not  at  all  favor- 
able to  the  rearing  of  worms.  It  was  too  cold 
and  foggy.  The  cold  currents  swept  up  from 
San  Francisco  Bay  constantly,  and  much  care 
had  to  be  exercised  in  rearing  the  silkworms. 
Moreover,  they  were  dependent  on  foreigners, 
who  were  not  at  all  ambitious  to  develop  any 
new  feature  in  the  business.  They  went  on  in 
the  old  European  style,  both  as  to  feeding  and 
caring  for  the  worms  and  millers.  They  labored 
to  make  silk-culture  entirely  a  cottage  industry, 
and  opposed  the  idea  of  going  into  the  business 
on  a  large  scale,  because  some  speculators  had 
attempted  to  do  this,  and,  through  utter  ignorance 
of  the  requirements  necessary  to  success,  had 
made  utter  failures.  They  did  not  seem  to  realize 
that  concentrated  effort  on  a  large  scale  with 
intelligent  leadership  is  an  absolute  necessity  to 
produce  cocoons  in  sufficient  quantities  to  supply 
the  demand  made  by  the  manufacturers  of  our 
own  country,  even  though  at  that  time  there 


132  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION   IN 

were  not  half  so  many  factories  as  there  now 
are. 

The  failure  of  these  large  speculators  is  still 
cited  as  evidence  against  the  possibility  of  raising 
silk  on  a  large  scale.  Yet  it  is  on  record  that  in 
Milan,  or  near  there,  Signore  Susani  kept  three 
thousand  hands  busy  in  his  immense  cocooneries 
during  the  season  when  the  millers  couple,  and 
besides  all  these  he  kept  750  scientists  busy  ex- 
amining the  millers  and  eggs,  to  be  sure  they 
were  free  from  disease. 

Here  in  California,  —  yes,  even  in  San  Diego,— 
there  is  ample  room  for  many  such  establish- 
ments. They  would  add  very  largely  to  the 
wealth  of  the  state  and  nation. 

For  a  few  years  after  our  own  state  had  with- 
drawn aid  to  the  silk  business,  the  Ladies7  Society 
received  from  the  Agricultural  Department  at 
Washington  an  appropriation  of  two  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars  annually.  But  when  in  1891 
Congress  refused  to  longer  give  aid  to  this  special 
work  of  development,  the  ladies  gave  up,  unable 
to  bear  the  burden  any  longer. 

Since  that  time,  several  fugitive  efforts  have 
been  made  to  develop  the  silk  business  in  Cali- 
fornia, but  there  has  been  no  concentrated  effort 
in  the  matter,  and  neither  state  nor  national  aid 
has  been  given.  The  silk  manufacturers  are 
accumulating  millions  for  themselves,  and  sending 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  133 

millions  of  dollars  every  year  to  the  agricultural 
classes  of  foreign  countries,  for  the  purchase  of  a 
much  poorer  article  of  silk  than  they  could  obtain 
from  the  agriculturists  of  our  own  country. 

SAN    DIEGO. 

In  A.  D.  1891,  a  few  enterprising  women  organ- 
ized a  silk  society  and  secured  the  services  of  two 
skilled  Japanese  to  instruct  them  in  the  raising 
of  silkworms,  while  they  managed  the  cocoonery 
(an  ordinary  building  rented  for  the  society). 
But,  as  a  society,  we  had  yet  no  mulberry  trees, 
and  the  supply  from  other  sources  on  which  we 
counted  proved  quite  insufficient  for  the  number 
of  worms  we  had  hatched  out.  The  result  was, 
that  many  of  the  worms  perished  for  want  of 
sufficient  food,  while  many  of  those  we  did  rear 
were  not  at  all  as  good  as  they  would  have  been 
with  sufficient  food,  all  through  their  brief  lives. 
However,  from  the  few  thousands  we  did  raise, 
a  quantity  of  silk-eggs  was  obtained,  from  which 
stock,  as  well  as  from  eggs  obtained  from  other 
sources,  I  have  continued  to  propagate  worms 
for  a  number  of  years.  At  that  time  we  also 
made  enough  reeled,  raw,  and  sewing-silk  with 
cocoons  to  make  quite  a  little  exhibit  at  the 
Columbian  Exhibition  in  Chicago,  which  attracted 
much  attention,  especially  from  foreigners.  Our 


134  COMPLETE   INSTRUCTION    IN 

cocoons  were  vastly  superior  to  most  shown  at 
that  time  by  other  silk-producing  countries. 

Soon  after  the  first  crop  of  silk  had  been  raised, 
the  Japanese,  while  fully  convinced  that  we  had 
the  best  country  in  the  world  for  silk-culture,  for 
want  of  means  to  go  into  the  business,  departed 
to  other  lines  of  work;  and  the  ladies  returned 
to  the  routine  of  every-day  life.  Some  put  in 
trees,  but  as  there  was  no  hope  of  very  immediate 
returns,  interest  in  the  business  almost  died  out. 

But  the  writer,  having  full  confidence  in  the 
great  possibilities  of  our  glorious  land,  kept  on 
experimenting  in  a  small  way  with  worms,  and 
millers,  and  eggs,  and  had  as  her  chief  reward 
the  consciousness  of  doing  good,  by  continuing 
to  unfold  new  living  truths  from  this  most 
wonderful  book  of  nature. 

My  Miniature  Silk-works  have  long  proved  to 
be  one  of  the  chief  attractions  of  tourists  from  all 
parts  of  the  world. 

I  sent  an  exhibit  to  the  Midwinter  Fair  held 
in  San  Francisco  in  1893.  In  this  I  showed 
samples  of  fine  cocoons,  reeled  silk  from  the 
seventh  crop  of  worms  that  season;  also,  raw 
silk,  sewing-silk,  and  a  variety  of  silken  souvenirs. 
Some  time  after  that  I  sent  a  small  exhibit  to  the 
Mechanics'  Fair  (through  the  Carlson-Currier 
Company),  and  still  later,  by  request  of  the 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  135 

Southern  California  Railroad  Company,  I  pre- 
pared an  exhibit  for  the  Paris  Exposition,  to  be 
included  in  their  representation  of  the  products 
of  California. 

Samples  of  my  silk  have  been  taken  to  Europe, 
and  examined  by  both  foreign  and  our  own 
experts,  and  without  a  dissenting  voice  San  Diego 
silk  has  been  pronounced  of  the  best  and  finest 
quality. 

At  my  Miniature  Silk-works  I  continued  my 
experiments  for  years.  I  developed  splendid 
worms,  that  attained  their  growth  in  twenty-four 
days,  and  before  spinning  measured  four  inches. 
At  one  time  I  was  three  full  years  with  living 
silkworms  every  day.  They  were  continuously 
either  hatching  out  or  maturing.  And  I  might 
have  so  continued  ever  since,  if  circumstances 
had  not  changed  my  mode  of  life  for  a  time.  I 
never  found  in  my  worms  any  of  the  diseases 
described  in  the  books. 

I  received  calls  from  tourists  and  strangers 
from  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as 
from  other  countries.  Silk  experts  were  always 
pleased  to  acknowledge  the  highest  praise  to  our 
silk.  I  designed  and  made  a  variety  of  silken 
souvenirs,  which  were  largely  bought  by  nume- 
rous callers,  and  carried  off  as  trophies  of  our 
sunny  land's  productions.  These  goods  were  also 


136  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION   IN 

&ent  to  all  parts,  by  mail  and  express.  I  also 
$ent  out  many  broods  of  silkworm/ when  in  the 
first  molt.  I  packed  in  boxes  with  crinkled 
paper  and  fresh  leaves,  and  they  always  arrived 
safely  at  their  destination.  I  have  sent  them  as 
far  as  Washington,  D.  C. 

This  year  (1902),  the  interest  in  the  silk  busi- 
ness is  much  greater  in  all  parts  of  the  Union 
than  I  have  ever  known  it  to  be.  This  is  espe- 
cially so  in  the  Southern  States.  The  people  in 
San  Diego  seem  to  begin  to  realize  what  unde- 
veloped wealth  is  lying  at  their  doors,  and  acres 
of  mulberry  trees  and  slips  are  being  added  to 
those  already  in.  The  largest  of  these  mulberry 
groves  are  owned  and  cared  for  by  the  following 
named  persons:  Mr.  Thomas  J.  Swayne  and  wife, 
of  Coronado;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  N.  S.  Casseres  of 
National  City;  another  party  at  Otay,  and 
many  others  whose  names  do  not  appear. 

The  Theosophists  of  Point  Loma  have  several 
acres  of  mulberry  orchard,  which,  if  wisely  cared 
for,  will  in  the  near  future  serve  to  feed  millions 
of  worms. 

There  is  ample  room  for  all  kinds  of  manu- 
facture of  silk  in  this  broad  land  of  ours.  The 
market  can  never  be  overstocked,  so  long  as  silk, 
as  a  fabric,  stands  at  the  head  of  the  triple  crown 
of  textile  industries,  —  cotton,  wool,  and  SILK. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  137 


A   SILK    STATION. 

This  ye4r  we  look  with  ardent  expectation  to 
Congress  for  an  appropriation  to  establish  a  silk 
station  in  San  Diego. 

We,  as  a  people,  need  it.  Not  merely  the 
people  of  this  special  locality.  The  people  of 
the  United  States  need  it,  and  we  need  it  right 
here,  because  this  is  the  garden  spot  of  the 
whole  nation,  —  the  place  where  more  can  be 
accomplished  for  the  general  good,  than  in  any 
other  locality  in  the  nation.  Here  we  have  the 
means,  through  special  climatic  conditions,  of 
showing  to  the  world  at  large  the  great  possibili- 
ties the  American  people  can  achieve  in  this,  the 
queen  of  all  industries.  With  a  station  here,  we 
could  educate  the  youth  of  our  land,  who  are  by 
nature  qualified  to  grasp  such  style  of  instruc- 
tion, to  go  forth  into  all  sections  of  our  main- 
land, as  also  into  our  island  possessions,  where 
they  are  even  now  asking  for  fuller  instruction 
in  this  wonderful  industry. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  want  of  practical 
knowledge  has  been  the  cause  of  every  failure 
that  has  occurred  in  silk-culture  since  the  first 
cocoon  was  seen  on  the  American  continent. 
With  a  station  here,  we  could  generate  silk-eggs 


138  COMPLETE    INSTRUCTION   IN 

by  the  hundreds  of  millions,  and  send  them  to 
every  nation  the  world  over.  From-  this  one 
source  alone  we  could  soon  obtain  and  pour  into 
our  national  treasury  untold  sums  of  gold,  that 
would  enable  our  rulers  to  build  fortresses  on 
other  industrial  and  scientific  lines,-  that  would 
render  our  nation  so  strong,  so  thoroughly 
grounded  on  the  foundation  laid  by  our  fore- 
fathers,—  viz.,  a  government  of  the  people,  for 
the  people,  and  by  the  people,  —  that  our  enemies 
would  quail  before  our  national  prowess,  and 
dare  not  to  lift  up  sword  or  battle-ax  against  us. 

When,  as  is  recorded  of  her,  the  little  island 
nation  Japan  netted  to  herself  eighty-five  mil- 
lions of  dollars  for  silk-eggs  alone  in  a  very 
few  years,  what  cannot  we  accomplish?  What 
amount  may  not  our  nation  justly  hope  to  reap, 
with  our  special  advantages  in  soil,  climate,  and, 
above  all,  with  the  intelligence  and  inventive 
genius  of  our  people? 

With  a  silk  station  here,  we  could  soon  send 
out  mulberry  trees  and  slips  till  the  hills  and 
plains  which  now  greet  the  eyes  of  travelers  as 
barren  wastes,  would  show  the  riches  and  verdure 
of  the  "golden"  tree;  and  the  airy  cocooneries 
and  comfortable  dwellings  of  busy  workers  would 
take  the  place  of  the  sagebrush,  and  the  haunts 
and  burrows  of  wild  beasts. 


REARING    SILKWORMS.  1391 

Thousands  of  our  own  citizens  would  seek  for 
and  establish  homes  on  those  desert  plains,  and 
add  their  quota  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  nation. 
Thousands  of  the  best  element  of  the  working 
classes  from  foreign  lands  would  seek  and  find 
homes  in  this  land  of  freedom,  where,  through 
the  influence  of  the  higher  civilization  that  we 
enjoy,  they  would  be  enabled  to  grasp  more  fully 
the  loftier  ideals  of  human  life  that  we  cherish. 

The  United  States  is  the  largest  manufacturer^ 
of  silks  of  any  nation  in  the  world.  She  is  also 
the  largest  consumer  of  silk.  Her  territory  em- 
braces more  area  in  latitude  adapted  to  silk- 
production  than  any  other  country  in  the  world. 
Then  why  should  she  not  become  the  largest  and 
best  producer  of  silk? 

We  have  all  the  essential  elements  within  our- 
selves to  carry  on  this  great  work.  But  we  need 
the  helping  hand  of  the  government,  that  the 
people  may  be  educated  along  those  special  lines. 

National  expansion  has  come  to  us  as  outlined 
on  the  scroll  of  divine  prophecy.  As  a  people, 
we  do  well  to  respond  to  its  calls.  San  Diego,. 
with  her  unrivaled  harbor  off  the  grand  old 
Pacific,  stands  as  the  entrance  to  the  mainland 
from  our  far-off  and  numerous  island  possessions. 
The  call  to  this  industry  has  already  come  from 
them.  To  respond  wisely  will  serve  to  develop 


140  COMPLETE    INSTKUCTION. 

them,  as  well  as  enrich  the  whole  nation.  This 
is  one  of  the  reasons  why  we  want  an  appropria- 
tion from  Congress  this  year.  We  want  to 
inaugurate  a  system  of  practical  education  on 
this  special  line  of  industry,  that  will  prove  in 
its  final  outcome  as  important  to  the  nation  at 
large  as  any  of  her  institutioi^  of  learning,  not 
•excepting  even  West  Point. 


HOT-AIR  SILK-REELING  MACHINE. 

Patented  by  John  P.  Evertz,  January  21, 1902.    Patent  No.  691457. 


The  inventor  claims  that  his  machine  is  better  than  any  other 
on  the  market,  in  that  by  its  use  silk  may  be  reeled  direct  from 
the  cocoons  onto  spools,  thus  saving  a  vast  amount  of  silk,  that  is 
now  wasted  by  throwsters  handling  skeins,  of  silk.  It  also  saves 
time.  For  particulars,  apply  to  or  address  the  patentee, 

JOHN  P.  EVERTZ,  San  Diego,  Cal. 


Mrs.  Carrie  Williams' 
MINIATURE     SILK-WORKS, 

San  Diego,  California. 


At  the  Miniature  Silk-Works  may  be  seen  the  whole  process  of 
making  silk,  from  the  egg  to  the  needle. 


Jfeiik  H>0ttbenira  in  Jiatietp, 

Silk-Cocoons,  Millers,  Eggs,  and 
Silkworms  in  All  Ages. 

All  goods  for  sale,  and  sent  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price. 

Information  and  price-list  sent 
in  return  for  stamped  envelope. 

REFERENCE,  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,  SAN  DIEGO,  CAL, 

SILK-CARD   FOR  SCHOOLS, 

SHOWING 

Reeled,  Raw,  and  Spun  Silk,  and  Cocoons. 

ALSO,  A 

PHOTOGRAPH  OF  CHRYSALIS,   MILLERS, 
EGGS,    AND    SILKWORMS   IN    ALL   AGES. 

Choice  Gems  of  Silk  Literature  on  Both  Sides. 

JUST  THE  THING  FOR    SCHOOLS. 

Size  8  x  10  inches.  Best  plated  board. 

Price  75  cents.    Sent  by  mail,  $1.00. 

Designed  and  Published  by 

MRS.    CARRIE    WILLIAMS, 

FIFTH    STREET, 
THE  ALLYN,  ROOMS  1  AND  2.  SAN  DIEGO,  CAL,. 


THE 

American  Silk  Journal. 

$2.00  a  Year. 

Issued  on  the  1st  of  Every  Month. 
LARGE   QUARTO. 


CI)e  leaning  journal  in  tjje  SntteU  States  in 
Special  line  of  -iSugincsfiu 

Gives 

A  Resume  of  the  Silk  Output 
and  Manufacture  of  the  World. 

ALSO, 

Exports  and  Imports. 

A  Complete  List  of  Silk  Factories  in  the 
United  States. 


In  Every  Sense  it  is  an  Up-to-Date  Monthly. 


The  American  Silk  Journal, 

19  Union  Square,  New  York. 


List  of  Miscellaneous  Publications 

...OF... 

The  Whitaker  &  Ray  Company 

San  Francisco 

Complete  Descriptive  Circular  sent  on  application 


Postpaid  Prices 

Adventures  of  a  Tenderfoot— H.  H.  Sauber $1  00 

About  Dante — Mrs.  Frances  Sanborn     --_.__.  100 

Among  the  Redwoods— Poems— Lillian  H.  Shuey        -  25 

Beyond  the  Gates  of  Care— Herbert  Bashford 1  00 

Backsheesh— Book  of  Travels— Mrs.  William  Beckman      -       -       -  1  50 

California  and  the  Californians— David  Starr  Jordan     -  25 

Care  and  Culture  of  Men— David  Starr  Jordan 150 

Chants  for  the  Boer— Joaquin  Miller     -       -       -  :     -    ...-       -       -.-.  25 

Complete  Poetical  Works  of  Joaquin  Miller     -       -       -       -       -  2  50 

Crumbs  of  Comfort— AllieM.  Felker             -       -       -       -       -„     -  100 

California's  Transition  Period— S.  H.Willey 100 

Doctor  Jones'  Picnic— S.  E.  Chapman 75 

Delphine  and  Other  Poems— L.  Adda  Nichols 1  00 

Educational  Questions— W.  C.  Doub 1  00 

Forty-Nine— Song— Lelia  France 10 

Forget-Me-Nots— Lillian  L.  Page 50 

Guide  to  Mexico— Christobal  Hidalgo -  50 

Hail  California— Song— Josephine  Gro 10 

History  of  Howard  Presbyterian  Church— S.  H.  Willey         -       -  1  00 

Life— Book  of  Essays— John  R.  Rogers 100 

Love  and  Law— Thos.  P.  Bailey          --------  25 

Lyrics  of  the  Golden  West— W.  D.  Crabb 1  00 

Main  Points— Rev.  Chas-  R.  Brown -  1  25 

Man  Who  Might  Have  Been— Rev.  Robt.  Whitaker         ...  25 

Matka  and  Kotik— David  Starr  Jordan     -       -       -       --'.'"">       -       -  1  50 

Modern  Argonaut— L.  B.  Davis 100 

Missions  of  Neuva  California— Chas.  F.  Carter    -       -       -       -       -  1  50 

Pandora— Mrs.  Salzscheider 100 

Percy,  or  the  Four  Inseparables— M.  Lee     -       -       -       -       -       -  1  00 

Personal  Impressions  of  Colorado  Grand  Canyon      -  1  00 

Rudy ard  Reviewed— W.J.  Peddicord 100 

Seven  Ages  of  Creation -  2  50 

Some  Homely  Little  Songs— A.  J.  Waterhouse      -       -.-.•-       -125 

Songs  of  the  Soul— Joaquin  Miller -  1  00 

Story  of  the  Innumerable  Company— David  Starr  Jordan       -       -  1  25 

Sugar  Pine  Murmurings— Eliz.  S.  Wilson 100 

Training  School  for  Nurses— A.  Mabie c«   -  50 

Without  a  Name — Poems— Edward  Blackman 1  00 

Wolves  of  the  Sea— Poems— Herbert  Bashford 1  00 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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T  T»  01  A    an«».  Q  'ftK                                   General  Library 
^aafllioXlftSi                           University  of  California 
Berkeley 

01703 


